Two Jobs for Nature projects to create 81 jobs for Southland
Two new Jobs for Nature projects will create 81 FTE new jobs in Southland, acting conservation minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced yesterday.
Verrall travelled to her former hometown of Te Anau to announce a series of new projects in Fiordland, Stewart Island and Queenstown.
The Jobs for Nature programme is designed to stimulate economies in communities impacted by Covid-19 tourism downturn, by retraining workers and creating temporary jobs on private and conservation land.
Verrall, who took over from minister of conservation Kiri Allan three weeks ago after she was diagnosed with cancer, said the projects were selected by Allan with the help of ministers who had environmental aspects to their portfolios.
There were about 100 Jobs for Nature projects throughout the country in various stages of approval, Verrall said, adding that they were being chosen based on the job and training opportunities they presented, along with their environmental benefits.
‘‘We want to see benefits that can be sustainable beyond the lifespan of the project,’’ she said.
Te Anau residents will be recruited over a two-year period in 36 FTE roles to help manage the invasive marine pest Undaria pinnatifida (Undaria) in Fiordland thanks to $2 million in funding.
‘‘Te Anau locals will have training opportunities to become certified occupational scientific divers and obtain boat qualifications with a focus on recruiting local iwi and hapu members,’’ Verrall said.
If Undaria is left unmanaged, it will irreversibly change the unique native seaweed and marine habitats, she said, adding that the Fiordland Marine Area covered 928,000ha.
‘‘With 10 marine reserves and a host of businesses that rely on the pristine nature of the area, this is an important investment in the economic and ecological viability of the Fiordland Marine Area,’’ Verrall said.
A further 45 FTE jobs will be created on Stewart Island with pest and predator control work to be carried out around Oban/Halfmoon Bay and adjacent areas.
‘‘The Stewart Island/Rakiura Community and Environment Trust has been at the forefront of predator control in the area for more than 18 years, but because large parts of the control area are serviced by volunteers the intensity of control, particularly during surges in predator numbers, is limited,’’ Verrall said.
The trust will receive $2m in Jobs for Nature funding over a two-year period to scale up their existing work.
‘‘This project is hugely important for the island’s biodiversity and will reduce predation of vulnerable bird species, increase the abundance and diversity of flora and protect native forest habitats,’’ Verrall said.
Workers would be able to use their new skills to pursue careers across the conservation and land management sectors, she said.
The third round of funding announced yesterday was a $1m boost for the Friends of Tucker Beach Society to partner with Go with Tourism, a government-funded initiative established to build the tourism workforce.
Together, they’ll hire 14 FTE roles to restore the Tucker Beach Wildlife Management Reserve – an area of braided river upstream of the Shotover Bridge near Queenstown.
‘‘The indigenous flora and fauna at Tucker Beach Reserve’s is being seriously displaced by infestations of weeds,’’ Verrall said.
‘‘Undertaking weed control and maintenance as well as reestablishing native plants will improve the nesting habitat for native black-billed gulls, blackfronted terns, banded dotterels and the South Island pied oystercatchers, all of which are under threat.’’
While the Jobs for Nature programme was, in part, a response to the tourism downtown, Verrall said they would remain important even if the industry returned to normal.
‘‘We need these programmes anyway,’’ she said, adding that the projects all had built-in skill development aspects. ‘‘We want this work. We need these skills,’’ she said.