An apprenticeship programme aimed at ridding Aotearoa of its worst pests has received a $2.35 million funding boost.
A pest control trap. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The two-year programme kicked off last year and is aimed at increasing the numbers of skilled workers involved in predator control.
It is a timely boost to work aimed at meeting the government's goal of eradicating the country's most destructive, introduced pests.
Holly Brown started her predator-free apprenticeship with Good Wood Aotearoa in November and has not looked back.
"To start off with it was more just 'cause I wanted to be in the bush. But I've developed a passion for looking after the bush and recovering it and bringing back the birds," Brown said.
"I think I was a little bit lost in what I wanted in life and it's given me a sense of purpose."
She was one of the 48 apprentices on the ground since the programme started late last year.
While Brown was based in Whangārei, she travelled around the upper North Island for her apprenticeship, learning from specialists and gaining industry qualifications.
"The goal is kiwi. But we want to bring back all sorts of birds and bring back the native bush. A lot of it's been decimated by possum activity and stoats and rats," Brown said.
"Once you know what you're looking for, you can really see that it's really impacted on the bush and we're just trying to bring it back to its natural self really. So we can all enjoy it."
Predator Free New Zealand Trust's Jessi Morgan remembered when the sound of kea was common on childhood ski trips.
They were some of the taonga that had been hit hard and were nationally endangered.
"The nesting rates are hugely impacted by stoats and increasingly feral cats," Morgan said.
"A recent study shows that 50 percent of the nest predation was actually undertaken by feral cats."
Yesterday, the government announced the additional funding for the programme which would add another 25 people.
Morgan was pleased with the funding boost and hoped the apprenticeships would help to inspire and train a new generation of conservationists.
The apprentices were already making a difference to conservation efforts and their own lives - such as one project in the Bay of Plenty, she said.
"Murupara has got a very high gang presence. These guys are off the streets, they've got an income. They're working in nature. They're feeling the benefits of working in nature and they're proud of the work that they're doing do."
MBC Environmental has been helping to protect whio and kiwi living in the remote West Coast backcountry by targeting stoats and rats.
Director Adam Walker said they were preparing to hire a fourth apprentice.
"To be given an opportunity to bring on another apprentice. It's creating this group within the business that really feel like they're going somewhere and we'd love to add more people to that.
"Because of the funding that sits behind it, it takes a lot of the risk off business of bringing people onboard."
The programme meant they could afford to hire people who didn't have the necessary specialised skills and train them, he said.
It had also given the company a clearer vision.
"For a long time it felt like we were just out there trapping animals without really knowing what we were doing and it's really shifted that we're actually out there doing protection programmes that these whio and kiwi - this is what we're out here protecting. And I think that's the big shift that we're seeing."
Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan said the apprenticeships would not just help to protect biodiversity but also help to create a competent workforce who could see their future in conservation.
"We recognise that we are on the brink of a biodiversity crisis globally and nationally, and the only way that we can turn the tide - if you will - is if we have a sufficient skilled workforce. People who have fire in their belly that are passionate about our environment," Allan said.
While predator free 2050 was many years away, Allan said apprenticeships were one of the ways to help Aotearoa reach that goal.