Forest and Bird has taken a Canterbury farmer to court after claims he nearly wiped out a third of the national population of a rare and threatened species.
The vast majority of the shrubby tororaro is found on the one farm on Kaitorete Spit, between Lake Ellesmere and the sea, south of Christchurch.
Forest and Bird say spraying, clearing and cultivating land for oats has damaged or destroyed around 30 percent of the wild population of shrubby tororaro.
And it could have affected other threatened species that live in the area.
The farmer, Brent Thomas told RNZ he was "horrified" to find himself in this situation and was working to reach a collaborative solution.
Forest and Bird's Canterbury regional manager Jen Miller told Newshub "This is an extremely important place, it's a national important place, in our view the plan [Christchurch District Plan] doesn't allow the clearance to happen as a right as what's occurred here.
"In our view this is as important as clearing an area of beech forest or a kakapo that is nationally important, critically endangered and close to extinction.
"It's not just a matter of destroying a plant, it's destroying a whole ecosystem and whole habitat for a whole host of plants and animals."
Ms Miller says Forest and Bird, through the courts, have sought an enforcement that no further clearance occurs on this site and that there is some rehabilitation.
They are also seeking the Environment Court to look at the district plan and how it allows for the protection of native species.
Newshub.
