<P> A significant feature of the coast is the colony of the rare seabird, the Westland petrel or tāiko, that is located on densely forested terraces just south of Punakaiki river . The Westland petrel breeding site at Punakaiki has been identified as an Important Bird Area, by BirdLife International . </P> <P> Although Paparoa National Park is protected from mining by Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act, there have been proposals to allow some mining within the park's borders . On 22 March 2010, the Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson released a discussion paper including a proposal to remove 7,058 hectares of land from Schedule Four of the Crown Minerals Act 1991, including the Inangahua sector of Paparoa National Park . The area of the Inangahua sector included in this proposal was 3,315 hectares, or 8 per cent of the park . The proposed change would remove the prohibition on mining for the area concerned . </P> <P> On 26 March 2010, a spokesman for Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said that opencast mining in Paparoa National Park could not be ruled out . </P> <P> On 20 July 2010, in a joint statement by Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson, the Government announced that it had received 37,552 submissions on its discussion paper, and that it had decided not to remove any land from Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act for the purposes of further mineral exploration or extraction . Ms Wilkinson said the government had agreed to continue with its proposal to add 14 areas with a total of 12,400 hectares of land to Schedule 4, including 240 hectares of Paparoa National Park (the northwest addition). </P>

Punakaiki shoreline in paparoa national park new zealand