Jobs for Nature workshop for projects around Whakaraupō | Lyttelton Harbour

Rāpaki, Orton Bradley Park and Living Springs are working hard to control invasive predator species. Boffa Miskell held a Strategy Review Workshop to celebrate and share how the work is going, one year on.

Boffa Miskell authored pest animal control strategies to guide this work, outlining priorities for each area, control tools and techniques; and provided biodiversity monitoring methodology.

Funding for the strategies, and the three-year delivery programme to implement them, was received through the Department of Conservation’s Jobs for Nature | Mahi mō te Taiao initiative, which was brought in to revitalise communities through nature-based employment and stimulate the economy post COVID-19.

After a karakia from mana whenua Ngāti Wheke and an introduction from Boffa Miskell, managers from Orton Bradley Park, Rāpaki, Conservation Volunteers and Living Springs presented updates on the on-ground delivery of their strategies; followed by discussion on what went well, lessons learned, challenges with the programme and planning for the future.

Staff on the ground carrying out the work shared their thoughts with their fellow colleagues, leaders, and fund managers. Department of Conservation rangers, who oversee 17 Jobs for Nature projects in the South Island were in attendance. They noted that the three programmes were ‘high-performing projects’ and were impressed with the work being carried out.

The group visited a proposed mahinga kai planting site, located in a valley next to Te Wharau Stream in Orton Bradley Park. This site will be dedicated to restoring indigenous plants to the surrounding ecosystem, with the intention that these plants can be gathered for cultural, spiritual, medicinal, and nutritional purposes and practices by the wider Whakaraupō community.

Landscape architect Hilary Blackburn has designed the native planting plan to include species such as ngaio, mahoe, kānuka, koromiko, harakeke, tī kōuka, totora and miro.