20 January 2005

Government allocates $2.67m for biodiversity work

Kiwi, brown teal, frogs and snails are among native species to benefit from more than $2.67 million in government grants to 148 conservation projects nationwide.

Announced today by Environment Minister Marian Hobbs and Conservation Minister Chris Carter, the allocations were divided among 117 projects under the Biodiversity Condition Fund, totalling $1,661,099, and 31 projects under the Biodiversity Advice Fund, totalling $1,015,840.

The government is continuing to support nature protection on private land, as part of its commitment to the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy the ministers said.

"As the ministers responsible for these funds, we were amazed at the number of high quality applications received, and regret that it was not possible to approve all of them this time," they added.

"We are fortunate in New Zealand to be able to count on a large number of landowners and groups keen on doing hands-on conservation work on their properties, and these grants will go a long way to giving them the help and encouragement they need from the government."

The contestable funds were established under the government’s $187 million Biodiversity Strategy Package in 2000.

The Biodiversity Condition Fund aims to improve and maintain the condition of areas of native vegetation, species and habitats, and broaden community participation in nature protection in New Zealand.

The Biodiversity Advice Fund supports the provision of advice and information on native species biodiversity to assist land managers and community groups in managing nature protection projects.

Tables and regional breakdowns

Table One: Number of Projects Approved per Conservancy for the Condition and Advice funds
Conservancy Number of Condition Projects Approved Number of Advice Projects Approved
Northland 20 0
Auckland 11 2
Waikato 5 3
Bay of Plenty 10 5
Tongariro 3 0
East Coast 20 1
Wanganui 5 2
Wellington 11 5
Chatham Is. 0 1
Nelson 14 5
West Coast 0 0
Canterbury 7 6
Otago 3 2
Southland 11 0
Totals 117 31
Table Two: Amounts available for allocation from the Condition and Advice funds
Amount available for allocation 2004/05 Amount available for allocation 2005/06
Advice Fund $1,061,800 $1,297,000
Condition Fund $2,268,780 $2,733,000
More people applied for funding than could be accepted. The level of over-subscription was 3.8 to 1 for the Condition Fund and 2.2 to 1 for the Advice Fund. A further funding round will be conducted in late February 2005.

Condition Fund projects were approved to a total funding level of $1,256,059 for 2004/04 and $405,040 for 2005/06.

Advice Fund projects were approved to a funding level of $546,660 for 2004/05 and $469,180 for 2005/06.

Regional break-downs

Northland Conservancy

Condition Fund: 21 projects, totalling $295,886 for two years.

Projects were submitted by individual farmers, Northland District Council, Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust, and Maori and Landcare Trust groups.

Examples:

Kohukohu Waterfront Society: Restoration of the banks of Tautiehihi Stream. $10,500 to remove streamside weeds from Tautiehihi Marae to where the stream enters Hokianga Harbour. Following weed removal, stream banks will be replanted in native vegetation. The project area is situated near Kohukohu Road, north of Hokianga.

A 7.5km fence is to be contructed to protect pateke (brown teal) and other wetland birds, including: 2000m of exclusion fencing on the property of PW Fisk to protect mature broadleaf forest, including puriri, kohekohe, taraire, kahikatea, totara, and nikau near Smith Deviation Road, Kohukohu, north Hokianga. 7500m fence on two adjoining properties owned by the Harman and McKenzie-Pollock families on the south side of the Whananaki Estuary on the east coast of Northland, around 30km from Whangarei to protect pateke (brown teal), Australasian bittern and kiwi habitat.

Mahinepua Radar Hill Landcare Group: Animal and plant pest control as part of the Mahinepua Mainland Island Project. $18,750 for 2005/06 will help the group work with more than 40 landowners in the project area (around 1500 ha), which spans two Ecological Districts. A professional pest controller will lay poison baits for possums, rats and mustelids (stoats, ferrets). Target species: kiwi and kukupa (kereru).

Upper Waitangi Biodiversity Enhancement Project: $25,000 over two years for nature protection, particularly kukupa (kereru) and kauri snails, via intensive rat and possum control. The project involves 20 large farms and several smaller lifestyle blocks in the Waimate North-Upper Waitangi area. Total project area: 9000 ha of which 30 per cent is native forest.

Auckland Conservancy

Six projects totalling $72,385 over two years.

Examples:

Tiffany Bush Care Group: two projects involving several landowners in streamside weed eradication and planting in the Murphy’s Road area of Manukau City. Fencing of a bush margin to exclude stock and remove weeds, with later revegetation of native plants on stream banks. A high priority project because the Manukau Ecological District has only 1.6 per cent native forest cover.

Emma Waterhouse: The Waterhouse property on Great Barrier Island. $15,315 to fence off parts of streams in Whangapoua Basin. The streams run through the property and flow into the estuary and are habitat for pateke (brown teal).

Waikato Conservancy

Condition Fund: Six projects totalling $65,400 over two years.

Examples:

Kapowai Kiwi Group: $20,000 for pest control in Whitianga, an ongoing project targeting the Kapowai River valley on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, covering 200 ha with a buffer area of 3000 ha. Key species for protection include kiwi, kaka, fern bird, and Hochstetter’s frog.

Mahakirau Forest Estate Incorporated Society: $31,100 for intensive animal pest control in Mahakirau Forest in the Coromandel. This project includes laying out bait stations for stoat, rat and possum control, in native forest of kauri, rimu, kaikawaka, and totara, home to kiwi, tui and kereru.

Bay of Plenty Conservancy

Condition Fund: Nine projects, totalling $180,490 over two years.

Projects submitted by QEII National Trust, Nga Whenua Rahui (the Government’s fund for promoting nature protection on private Maori-owned land), and Environment Bay of Plenty.

Hawke’s Bay Conservancy

Environment Bay of Plenty: LIA Bush Restoration project in Whakatane involving three property owners seeking to protect forest on their properties. Located between the Bay of Plenty coastline and Rotorua lakes, an ecological corridor for native birds, with kiwi and kokako as targeted species. Whio (blue duck) sightings have been reported in the area.

Nga Whenua Rahui: $70,000 for the Pohueroro Possum Control Project in Opotiki to improve forest condition and aid forest bird rrcovery via animal pest control, in particular, possums. Located in the lower Raukokore River catchments on 4819 ha of private Maori-owned land.

East Coast/Hawke’s Bay Conservancy

Condition fund: 21 projects, totalling $196,078, submitted by QEII National Trust, Horizons-Manawatu Regional Council, Burnbrae Station, Manuel Family Trust, Mahaanui Station, and John Corrychollie Cameron Estate.

Mahaanui Station: $18,375 for fencing and pest control in Tiniroto, Gisborne, to aid regeneration of streamside conservation values. A 1.9 km fence is proposed, to protect native forest by the Hangaroa River.

Manuel Trust: $27,212 to fence off part of a bush remnant, part of an ongoing fencing programme of covenanted areas to protect native mistletoe (Tupeia antarctica) on the property from possums.

QEII National Trust: $16,100 for willow control on the property of Evan Potter over two years. Aerial and ground control of willow on 100 ha in Hawea Stream at Elsthorpe, 55km south of Hastings.

Wanganui Conservancy

Condition Fund: Five projects, totalling $180,109 for fencing, pest control, trapping, biodiversity protection, and whio (blue duck) protection projects.

Marleigh Farm Trust: $40,628 for stoat and ferret trapping to protect whio over 1000 ha (7.5 km of river margin) involving 18 private property owners. Their objective is to increase the level of whio protection the Manganui a-te-Ao River. It is hoped eventually that with increaswed breeding, more juveniles will disperse back into Egmont National Park.

Schumacher property: $70,000 to the land owner over two years for pest control to protect native species, including kiwi, at Purangi, East Taranaki.

Tongariro/Taupo Conservancy

Condition Fund: Three projects, totalling $84,000, including grey willow removal, caging of a parasitic plant, Dactylanthus taylorii, and restoration at Retaruke.

New Zealand Forest Managers Ltd: $35,500 over two years for the Grey Willow Eradication Project in the Rotoaira forest wetlands over 1500ha of private Maori-owned land in Rotoaira and Lake Taupo forests. Grey willow is to be eradicated by spot-spraying by helicopter.

RAD & RJ Steel Trust: $36,000 over two years for the Retaruke Restoration Project near the Whanganui River, to restore native flora and fauna via construction of 5000m of fencing to protect 800ha of native forest with remnants of rimu, kahikatea, matai and beech.

Wellington Conservancy

Condition Fund: 11 projects, totalling $132,295, covering weed control, fencing and restoration, submitted by Greater Wellington Regional Council, Te Iwi o Ngati Tukorehe Trust, and Nga Uruora Kapiti Project Inc.

Carrad Coastal Forest Remnant Fencing Project: $37,500 over two years to construct 3750m of fencing to protect 11.5 ha of forest remnants, and improve ecological values of coastal forest remnants and help possum control in Pukerua Bay.

Battery Stream Covenant Fencing Project: $46,442 for stock-proof fencing of forest and wetlands over 87 ha in Pounui, Wairarapa.

Nelson/Marlborough Conservancy

Condition Fund: 14 projects totalling $154,203.Fund.

Tasman District Council: $19,050 for the Torrent Bay Integrated Pest Management Control Project in a priately-owned enclave at Torrent Bay in Abel Tasman National Park. Restoration of native birdlife and flora via bait stations and traps for possums, stoats and ferrets, and wilding pine eradication.

Susan King and Barry Hope: $36,009 to fence off three patches of native vegetation covering around 190 ha on their property in South Marlborough. Includes securing physical and legal protection for three of eight sites on the property, increasing habitat for kereru, tui, and robin, and provide areas for re-establishment of podocarps and broad leaved plant species. Construction of a 4588m fence and repairs to a further 4066m of fencing are proposed.

Canterbury Conservancy

Condition Fund: Seven projects, totalling $158,418.

Andrew Fox: $11,919 for the Foxdown Forest Protection Project to protect a forest remnant in Amberly, Christchurch, via fencing, pest and weed control, with plans for native plantings. Vegetation in the fenced area includes grey scrub (mikimiki, matagouri), tussockland, grassland and bracken fernland.

Environment Canterbury: $29,000 for the Lake Pearson Wetland Enhancement Project to construct 2.5km of fencing to exclude stock from the wetland and lake, and provide an alternative water source for stock. This project will allow natural re-generation of the areas biodiversity adjacent to the lakeshore and protect nests of Australasian crested grebe nests from stock. Lake Pearson is situated near SH 73, between Springfield and Arthur’s Pass.

Otago Conservancy

Condition Fund: three projects, totalling $29,773.

Moeraki Native Bush Project: $5000 for weed control of gorse, old man’s beard, banana passionfruit, boxthorn and other weeds on the property of David & Reywa Brown and Walter Keiner, covering 3.9 ha. Bush regeneration will increase habitat for bellbirds, fantails and kereru.

Tautuku Pest Control Project: $15,573 for stoat, ferret and rat control to improve habitat for native species on 443 ha of Maori freehold land. Capital and operational costs: stoat tunnels and traps, poisons and GPS monitoring.

Southland Conservancy

Fund: 11 projects, totalling $114,062, submitted by Royal Native Forest & Bird Protection Society, Biodiversity Southland, New Zealand Landcare Trust, and QEII National Trust.

Forest and Bird: 30,812 for the Te Rere Yellow Eyed Penguin Reserve Restoration Project on the Catlins Coast. It will employ a part-time caretaker to control weeds and animal pests and plant native species, and replace a fence.

ENDS

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