New workers to plant 400,000 native trees and create a shared path in Punakaiki

The edges of Paparoa National Park in Punakaiki will be restored with nearly 400,000 new native trees planted over the next four years.

Conservation Minister Kiri Allan was in the small west coast town on Wednesday to announce that 13 people would be employed to plant and maintain 153 hectares of one of New Zealand’s most unique environments.

The $ 3.6 million project would be led by Conservation Volunteers New Zealand with support from the Department of Conservation (DOC).

“The work will also preserve the unique and nationally important Punungairo / Bullock Creek polje,” Allan said.

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Bullock Creek is New Zealand’s only example of polje – a large flat-bottomed depression in a karst landscape surrounded by high cliffs and dense beech and kahikatea forests.

While on the West Coast, Allan met with the three district mayors and the presidents of the West Coast Regional Council, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae and the West Coast Whitebaiters Association.

The DOC has been reviewing the New Zealand backpack fishery since 2018 because it classified four of the six backpack species as “at risk” or “threatened”.

Some proposals published in January caused outrage among West Coast biter, including the possible closure of rivers such as Haast, Punakaiki and Mohikinui for up to 10 years.

Allan said she was a dying woman from the east coast of the North Island.

“Everybody believes that regulation in some shape or form is the right thing to do. There is work that could be done … so that we can get some facts and figures on what is the nature of the actions here, ”he said.

Allan said he had heard a variety of points of view on key issues for the West Coast, including mining, white bait, hydroelectric schemes and the classification of important natural areas and land administration.

She considered visiting the West Coast a priority because any “tough decision” she made as minister would have a huge impact on West Coasters, and she needed to understand what people wanted.

A land stewardship review was one of their top priorities for 2021 and the West Coast would be the first region to be reviewed.

“No new mining is a really important promise that we have made. We have Commerce Department land, but custody lands need to be considered. I don’t think the two are the same, ”he said.

Ngāti Waewae President Francois Tumahai said Allan was a “breath of fresh air”.

“It’s great to have a meeting where people want to participate. We’ve been missing that for a while, ”he said.

Allan also converted the first lawn for a new $ 1.6 million 4.2-kilometer shared walking and biking trail in Punakaiki. It would pass by the new visitor center, which would be owned by Ngāti Waewae as part of a $ 26 million redevelopment of Dolomite Point.

Allan said the trail would make Punakaiki, which is on State Highway 6, safer to walk.

“This is such a special place to slow down and connect with the natural environment. With the new road linking several key sites in Punakaiki, people will be able to leave their cars and enjoy a day in nature, “he said.

Punakaiki is home to the iconic pancake rocks and spiracles, attracting 500,000 visitors in 2018.

The high number of visitors put significant and unsustainable pressure on the city’s antiquated facilities, which could not be financed by its small group of taxpayers.

Allan also announced a new pest control apprenticeship program while on the West Coast.

He said the training of 51 apprentices in New Zealand would be funded by $ 4.5 million from the Jobs for Nature program.

The “groundbreaking scheme” would help work towards New Zealand’s goal of becoming Predator Free by 2050.

The trainees would partner with specialist pest control companies, eco-sanctuaries and large-scale landscape projects for a two-year training program. Four roles would be created to oversee the program.

Jessi Morgan, general manager of the Predator Free New Zealand Trust, said New Zealand has the highest rate of threatened species in the world.

The Jobs for Nature program is a $ 1.245 billion fund to create 11,000 nature-based jobs as part of New Zealand’s Covid-19 recovery.