More ground staff to control wilding conifers in Mt Richmond Forest Park

Wednesday, 20 January 2021

Wilding pines are introduced conifers spreading across the landscape through natural regeneration. (File photo)

The battle against wilding conifers in the Mt Richmond Forest Park has received another funding boost with more people to be employed on the ground to remove the pest species.

The $620,000 wilding conifer control project, led by the Tasman District Council, is an extension of the $1.3 million Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) funding for Mt Richmond Forest Park this year.

It will enable an additional eight full time equivalent employees to work on removing wilding pines and take part in training opportunities over a three-year period through the Jobs for Nature funding.

Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor said it would create jobs to help protect the area’s unique ecosystems.

Ground-based teams can target smaller wilding pine trees and seedlings. (File photo)

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The Mt Richmond Forest Park includes an ultramafic mineral belt which has unique geology, providing habitat for a number of taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country.

The $620,000 wilding conifer control project is an extension of the $1.3 million Ministry for Primary Industries funding for Mt Richmond Forest Park. (File photo)

“These special plant species are currently at risk of being lost due to the invasive pine forest in the area. The wilding conifer control work proposed in this project will restore the specialised ecosystems on unique mineral-rich rock types.”

Wilding conifer control will be undertaken throughout the park and some adjoining privately owned and Marlborough and Nelson council land of around 28,000 hectares.

O’Connor said the project specifically created employment opportunities for tourism workers whose jobs had been lost due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The original MPI proposal to tackle wilding pines before the pandemic largely involved helicopters undertaking aerial work.

This funding would enable some of that work to be done by ground control teams to better target smaller trees and seedlings.

In June 12 workers from a range of different backgrounds, including kayak guides from Kaiteriteri and Marahau and two brothers from Matamata's Hobbiton Movie Set, were redeployed to the park for wilding conifer control over 215 hectares of the park.

Department of Conservation partnerships manager Matt Hippolite said at the time wilding conifers had spread from commercial pine forests which bordered around two-thirds of Mt Richmond Forest Park.

He said controlling the wilding pines was important to protect the biodiversity of the park, which was home to at-risk ecosystems and about 70 threatened native plants.

It would protect at least 20 plant species found only in the park’s extensive highly mineralised ‘ultramafic’ substrate, with the open nature and low vegetation of ultramafic areas making them particularly vulnerable to invasion by conifer trees.

The Mt Richmond wilding conifer ground control was identified as a priority for Jobs for Nature funding by Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, a top of the South Island alliance of iwi, councils and DOC that works collaboratively to enhance resilience in natural landscapes and communities across the region.