An Archey's frog amongst fern leaves. Photo: Supplied / Amanda Haigh
An environmental group is concerned the Department of Conservation's latest report on amphibian conservation statuses uses research commissioned by a mining company which wants to excavate under Archey's frog habitat.
Earlier this week, the Department of Conservation (DOC) released its latest report, in which a key finding is an abundance of Archey's frogs at a site in Coromandel.
But while numbers had gone up, the species' official conservation status remained "At Risk - Declining", as the risk to the species from land mammals like rats and mice was still high.
Catherine Delahunty from Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki told RNZ the group was concerned DOC made no mention of the threat of mining, and about the lack of transparency and public scrutiny.
"We are relying on mining companies' contractors' science to decide what the numbers are for a species, and we're just not convinced this is independent science."
In 2022, OceanaGold published some "eyebrow-raising research", incorrectly claiming there are more than 50 million Archey's frogs on the Coromandel Peninsula.
On Thursday, an OceanaGold spokesperson said in a statement, the Coromandel-wide study was led by an independent ecology consultancy, and field work was carried out by DOC-approved ecologists.
"The work was focussed on understanding the potential effects of the proposed new mine, but as is routine for this type of study, the results were submitted to the Department of Conservation to consider in their amphibian threat classification update."
Until media coverage this week, it was not aware the results had been used in DOC's estimate update.
It said it did not change anything about the way it intended to manage the risk of underground mining for the species.
"Our approach has always been low risk, and our proposed management measures will be comprehensive and aimed at producing an overwhelming net benefit for the species."
DOC stands by its process.
In a statement, Amanda Haigh, a member of the assessment panel and a DOC regional liaison for biodiversity, explained the independent panels were made up of local and overseas experts in taxonomy, conservation biology and ecology.
This year, it had included experts from the Department of Conservation, Victoria University of Wellington, and the University of Otago.
"These experts are the best reviewers for validating the accuracy of studies," she said.
Their decisions were based on "multiple sources of information".
In this case, it did include the OceanaGold study, alongside DOC's recent analysis of the other population of Archey's frogs at Whareorino, and separate data from Tapu-Coroglen Ridge and Coromandel provided by researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington.
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