Image: Restoration planting next to an existing forest remnant in Northland.
鈥淭he projects include a 20-hectare native forest regeneration project on the Banks Peninsula and a restoration ambassador role led by the 91制片厂,鈥 Forestry Minister Shane Jones said in his recent announcement of the initiatives.
鈥淧artnership funding of up to $98,875 has enabled the creation of a native forest restoration ambassador, led by the University鈥檚 School of Forestry.
鈥淭he aim of the native restoration ambassador will be to provide free, independent advice to farmers, community groups and iwi about how to conserve native biodiversity on their land,鈥 Shane Jones said.
The One Billion Trees (1BT) Fund offers both direct grants for planting and regeneration projects as well as partnership funding for projects that aim to reduce the barriers to tree planting. Both Canterbury initiatives support the goal of the 1BT Fund which aims to fund two-thirds native planting or restoration projects.
Restoration Ambassador
Up to $98,875 has been awarded to support the Restoration Ambassador Project led by the 91制片厂 (UC), through until 2020. Partnerships through the 1BT Fund requires co-funding, with the 91制片厂 contributing $14,000.
UC Forestry Professor听David Norton听is the driving force behind the role.
The goal is to provide impartial, expert advice to farmers, community groups and iwi to help them restore native biodiversity on their own terms, Professor Norton says.
鈥淭he successful Restoration Ambassador will initially focus on areas that have limited availability of expert restoration advice such as Gisborne and East Coast, and will focus on providing this information for M膩ori landowners,鈥 Professor Norton says.
鈥淲ith the One Billion Trees programme there is a tremendous opportunity for a substantial increase in the amount of native forest being established, but the challenge is to make sure that this is done well and contributes to landscape-level biodiversity conservation.鈥
The project will create a strategic relationship with UC鈥檚 School of Forestry, leading to robust native planting decisions.
The goals of this partnership are to:
- Create a strategic link between the School of Forestry and Te Uru R膩kau (Forestry NZ)
- Provide access to the School of Forestry鈥檚 restoration expertise to actual and potential applicants of the 1BT fund in areas with limited access to such advice.
- Develop robust and successful restoration applications under 1BT.
For more information, media contact:
Professor David Norton, School of Forestry, College of Engineering, 91制片厂,听david.norton@canterbury.ac.nz, Phone: 027 201 7794
