Conservation funding injection in Auckland aims to address lockdown impact

Tuesday, 26 April 2022

The government is dropping $6 million in conservation funding into Auckland to address the impact the past two years of Covid-19, and the many lockdowns that came with it, had on the local environment.

On Tuesday morning Conservation Minister Kiri Allan launched three government-backed initiatives across the region, ranging from pest control to harbour restoration.

Creating more than 50 jobs, Allan said the government hoped it would address the impact Covid-19 had had on Tāmaki Makaurau’s environment.

Minister for Conservation Kiri Allan announced the funding at the base of Te Pane o Mataaoho/Mangere Mountain

The projects, which partner with local iwi, are part of the government’s Jobs for Nature campaign.

* Jobs for Nature funding of $34m announced to employ conservation workers on private land

* Honour the Maunga slams $1.1 million budget to cut down 345 trees on Ōwairaka/Mt Albert

More than 50 jobs would be created as a result of the funding, Allan said.

“[This funding] is a mere drop in the bucket, but let it be a drop in the bucket that sparks the fire in the belly of the next generation”, Allan said.

Three million dollars will be invested in Te Mauri Hauropi o Ngā Tūpuna Maunga/Tūpuna Maunga Biodiversity strategy which is led by the Tūpuna Maunga Authority and aims to increase pest eradication and native revegetation across 15 Tūpuna Maunga.

A further $2.1 million goes to Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea Trust’s Tū Mai Taonga to create a local workforce with the task of pest eradication in the Aotea Conservation Park and Northern Aotea.

Chair of the Tupuna Taonga o Tāmaki Makaurau Trust Karen Wilson said the funding is well needed and will help the people on the ground doing the mahi.

The final $1 million goes to the Sustainable Business Network for the South Auckland Puhinui community to restore the Puhinui Stream and Manukau Harbour.

“Tāmaki Makaurau is our biggest city. Living elsewhere it can be tempting to think of it as being just another sprawling metropolis with too many shopping malls and tall buildings.

“These projects prove it is far more than that”, Allan said.

It is home to some unique habitats and ecosystems, which with some connected up nurturing, will result in some big conservation gains for us all, she said.

All three projects are collaborations with and/or led by iwi and hapū, Allan said, creating opportunities for iwi and communities to build skills and conservation knowledge.

The projects aim to contribute towards New Zealand’s goal of Predator Free 2050.

Chair of the Tupuna Taonga o Tāmaki Makaurau Trust Karen Wilson said she anticipated the funding would accelerate the commitment they had to protecting maunga across Auckland.

“We have been longing to see [Allan] here today”.

The staff on the ground would be doing the hard yards, she said.

They hoped the funding wasn’t a one off, Wilson said, as there were more projects that needed support.

Chairman of the Ngati Rehua-Ngatiwai Lewis Ngawaka said the whole of Great Barrier island was behind the conservation and predator-free effort, they just needed this funding to achieve it.

“When you use words like eradication, they’ve got big meaning, it’s a lot of effort”, he said.

This reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ on Air.