When COVID-19 hit, tourism worker Adam Haack was out of a job. Now he’s part of a crew working to restore the mauri of the Mahitahi catchment, a project that received $3.7 million from the Jobs for Nature programme.
This is exactly where I want to be, outside, helping the environment. It’s good for the soul.
“It’s been perfect, conservation just fits with my values. I’ve learnt a whole bunch coming into this job, I’m ticking off new environmental management skills slowly but surely,” says Adam.
Over the next five years, Project Mahitahi will generate employment for around 54 people, who will plant around 125,000 plants, restore 1.3 hectares of wetlands and do comprehensive pest and plant control throughout the whole catchment.
“We are making really good progress. We have planted over 15,000 native plants, hosted five community events, undertaken weed control over more than 10 hectares of land, and employed 32 people working across six different host employers,” says Jo Martin, Manager Science and Environment at Nelson City Council.
The $3.7 million boost, from Ministry for the Environment and Department of Conservation’s Jobs for Nature funding, builds on work that landowners in the catchment and the wider community have been doing for many years. The New Zealand Forest Service – Te Uru Rākau have also contributed plants.
“This is the first project that Nelson City Council has co-developed and delivered with the iwi of Te Tauihu, under the guidance of the Kōtahitanga mō te Taiao strategy,” said Jo Martin.
"Project Mahitahi has given Ngāti Koāta a platform to acknowledge tupuna Ben Peneamine Hippolite who historically was denied access to this significant cultural harvesting area back in the 1950's. The iwi have paid tribute to him and his active role in gaining back this significant site by naming the Peneamine restoration project after him,” said Alice Woodward, Environmental Manager at Ngāti Koāta Trust.
“Partnerships like this allow us to employ whānau to take an active role in projects that have a lot of meaning to us and restore not only the sites, but also our own connection to the whenua," said Alice Woodward.
The project is a collaboration between Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Koata Trust, Te Ātiawa Manawhenua Ki Te Tau Ihu Trust and Nelson City Council.
“The result of all this employment is that we are going to end up with an ecological restoration workforce,” says Jo Martin.
“Nelson City Council are hoping that through this new trained workforce in our region we will be able to make a huge difference in the regeneration of our natural ecosystems in the coming years,” concludes Jo Martin.
The government’s $1.219 billion Jobs for Nature package aims to create significant environmental benefits and bring thousands of people into nature-based work to help accelerate the recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.