More than $630,000 will be pumped into the Top of the South to help conservation projects from weed control to pest management.
More than $5 million of funding was announced over the weekend as part of the Department of Conservation’s Community Fund, which has funded community-led conservation projects on both public and private land since 2014.
Ten groups across the Top of the South will receive funding for various on-the-ground projects aimed at conserving New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity.
Five groups will receive grants of more than $85,000 including the Tasman Environmental Trust for its Battle for the Banded Rail Habitat Restoration project and the Takaka Hill Biodiversity Group Trust (THBGT) for its National Park Halo Predator Control Project.
THBGT Co-Founder and Project Manager Charmaine Petereit says the group of private landowners on the Takaka Hill has developed a 30-year-strategy that works alongside other projects in the bordering national parks.
“We are situated quite crucially between two national parks and we realised we could very easily end up as a reservoir of pest species if we’re not doing the same sorts of management.”
Charmaine says the first funding they received was from the 2019 DOC Community Fund which allowed them to undertake comprehensive surveys of the pest plant species that are on the hill.
From there they have developed a strategy for both the removal and documenting of the pests.
The group of around 25 landowners collectively manage more than 4000 hectares of privately owned land.
“We do as much as we can ourselves, but this funding has allowed us to bring in specialists and develop a strategy to remove these pest species,” says Charmaine.
“We’ve got rare molluscs, rare limestone loving species, rare geckos, we’ve got some really cool things up here and we’ve got quite a thriving community of landowners who recognise that.”
The current funding round was opened in February 2020 with a call for applications focused on projects that restore the diversity of native plants and wildlife, including, pest control, habitat restoration and weed management.
A total of 116 community projects across the country received a total of $5.44 million in funding.
Top of the South projects to receive funding:
Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust – $25,200
Nelson-Tasman Weedbusters Incorporated - $17,610
Takaka Hill Biodiversity Group Trust - $97,699.00
Linda Jenkins and Larry Lumsden - $7,502.50
Lindy Kelly & the Friends of Kellys Conservation Forest - $48,000
The Marlborough Sounds Restoration Trust - $86,061.00
Kaikoura Vines-Free Project - $39,000.00
Tasman Environmental Trust - $113,426.00
South Marlborough Landscape Restoration Trust - $86,700.00
Project De-Vine Environmental Trust - $90,000
Whenua Iti Outdoors - $27,500
