A local environmental group has been buoyed by Labour's election promise to protect conservation land, beaches and harbours on the Southern Coromandel Peninsula from mining.

The promise was delivered last week when Labour unveiled its conservation policy, much to the delight of environmental group Coromandel Watchdog.

The Conservation land which the Labour Party pledges will be added to Schedule 4, and protected from mining.

If elected, Labour would classify all conservation land south of the Kopu-Hikuai Road to the southern boundary of the Te Aroha Ecological District as Schedule 4 land and protected from mining.

Coromandel Watchdog member Denis Tegg says the group are absolutely thrilled by the announcement.

'All of the conservation land, waterways and beaches on the Coromandel Peninsula have amazing landscape, bio-diversity and ecological values.

'The southern conservation areas have over 100 nationally threatened species, and are equally, if not more deserving of protection as those to the north.”

Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991 prohibits mining activity for Crown-owned minerals on land described in Schedule 4. Areas can be added to the schedule, or in some cases taken out of it, by Order in Council.

As party of their policy Labour has also vowed that it would 'make it clear that no land may be taken out of Schedule 4 by Order in Council”.

National MP for Coromandel Scott Simpson says he is yet to fully examine the details of Labour's conservation policy.

'But like most New Zealanders I am sceptical about their ability to deliver, given that the Green Party doubts their financials and so do I,” he says.

Denis says that the Coromandel Watchdog have fought for decades to keep mining companies out of the Peninsula.

Denis, a Thames lawyer, even drafted the private member's bill which led to Schedule 4 of the Act being passed to protect the northern Coromandel area in 1997.

But in 1997, the National government drew an arbitrary line across the Peninsula and protected only the northern area from mining, he says.

'This was a weak and ludicrous compromise, which was strongly opposed at the time by local communities and the Labour and Green Parties.

'We never gave up, and have relentlessly pursued our campaign for 35 years. Should a Labour/Green government be elected we can finally achieve what we set out to do in 1979.”

In 2010 about 40,000 people marched up Auckland's Queen Street to keep mining out of Schedule 4 conservation areas on the Coromandel and throughout the country.