Bay Conservation Cadets – Tauira Mahi programme video

It makes me feel really good because I’ve wandered around on the planet not knowing where I want to go or what I want to do, but I definitely feel like I’m  heading in the right direction now.

The Bay Conservation Cadets, Tauira Mahi is a five year programme, three and a half million dollars funding and in that time 150 cadet trained, employed during that period of time as well.

So everything ranging from pest control, predator control, weeds, planting plans, outcomes monitoring, conservation dogs - a huge array of subjects as a sort of an appetizer to what’s actually out there as a full time career.

I’m a kaitiaki looking after the things in the bush to the rivers and the streams, to the moana.

That actually brings the mauri back, the life essence, the energy, the good energy that needs to be given back to Papatūānuku Ranginui all of that, instead  of taking, taking all the time.

They’re just hungry for this knowledge and that’s what inspires me as an educator.

But for me being able to bring them outdoors, so they can be in nature and see how it connects.

The best way they can experience it is hands on.

Getting out there and doing it.

Being at one with the environment that we have.

Cause you see the passion in their eyes and it just lights up when they’re out here.

This is such a big investment in people; creating confidence, self esteem, awareness of what’s possible so it’s a huge social investment that’s going on here as much as anything.

So I whakapapa from Pirirākau and haven’t really known anything about my whakapapa and I’ve slowly been learning about who I am and where I’ve come from.

So this is going to really help me to understand a lot as well. It’s been really like incredible yeah.

I used to wake up when I had my old job and think oh stink I’ve got to go to work, but now I’m excited to go to  work and you just feel like you’re actually making a difference in the world.

Absolutely loving it.

All the field work is amazing, we’re learning so many different things.

And I can see everybody in the course getting careers in conservation after this course. Yeah definitely.

So the Jobs for Nature programme has been fantastic for what it’s allowing these cadets to be able to see that they’re on the start of something here.

This is life changing and so it’s just going to grow and grow.

New environmental guardians in Bay of Plenty

A $3.5 million grant from the Jobs for Nature programme is training a new group of environmental guardians in the Bay of Plenty, says Secretary for the Environment Vicky Robertson. 

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The Bay Conservation Cadets - Tauira Mahi is an employment, training and development programme which upskills people who are unemployed, under-employed or those changing career pathways, in environmental management and restoration. 

Bay Conservation Alliance received $3.5 million through Ministry for the Environment’s Jobs for Nature funding, to deliver the Bay Conservation Cadets programme.

“We want New Zealanders to learn environmental management skills that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. It is through this long-term learning approach that we ensure that both Te Taiao (the environment), and those employed through projects funded by Jobs for Nature will thrive well beyond the life of the programme,” said Vicky Robertson.

Over the next five years, the programme will employ 150 people, through three intakes of 10 cadets each year, for a 12-week training and work experience period.

Cadets are working with 29 environmental experts to learn skills in areas such as pest control, predator control, weeds, planting plans, outcomes monitoring and conservation dogs, to enable a career path into the environmental sector. 

The hope is that the hands-on learning, the environmental certifications and the career coaching provided by the programme will help the cadets to find longer term employment.

“This is a big social investment in people - creating confidence, self-esteem and awareness of what’s possible,” said Bay Conservation Alliance’s Education and Training Manager Brian Ireland.

Bay Conservation Cadet, Misty Peni said while she was from Pirirākau, Tauranga Moana, she knew little about her whakapapa, but her time on the programme was changing that. 

“I’ve slowly been learning about who I am and where I’ve come from. So, this [programme] is going to really help me to understand a lot.

“I definitely feel like I’m heading in the right direction now,” said Misty.

The Jobs for Nature programme was created to support a greener recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides $1.245 billion over a four-year programme to create nature-based jobs to protect and restore our natural environment.
Two people sitting on the river bank next to each other.
Misty Peni – Bay Conservation Cadet and Emma Richardson – and Science Educator