Supporting Technical Assessments

Appendix 1: Criteria for Determining Significance of Indigenous Biodiversity Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project | Terrestrial Ecology Values and Effects of the WUG 8. It is aquatic habitat (excluding artificial water bodies, except for those created for the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity or as mitigation as part of a consented activity) that is within a stream, river, lake, groundwater system, wetland, intertidal mudflat or estuary, or any other part of the coastal marine area and their margins, that is critical to the self-sustainability of an indigenous species within a catchment of the Waikato region, or within the coastal marine area. In this context “critical” means essential for a specific component of the life cycle and includes breeding and spawning grounds, juvenile nursery areas, important feeding areas and migratory and dispersal pathways of an indigenous species. This includes areas that maintain connectivity between habitats 9. It is an area of indigenous vegetation or habitat that is a healthy and representative example of its type because: • its structure, composition, and ecological processes are largely intact; and • if protected from the adverse effects of plant and animal pests and of adjacent land and water use (e.g. stock, discharges, erosion, sediment disturbance), can maintain its ecological sustainability over time. 10. It is an area of indigenous vegetation or habitat that forms part of an ecological sequence, that is either not common in the Waikato region or an ecological district, or is an exceptional, representative example of its type. Role in protecting ecologically significant area 11. It is an area of indigenous vegetation or habitat for indigenous species (which habitat is either naturally occurring or has been established as a mitigation measure) that forms, either on its own or in combination with other similar areas, an ecological buffer, linkage or corridor and which is necessary to protect any site identified as significant under criteria 1-10 from external adverse effects.

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