Otago Regional Council is to receive over $6m in funding for wilding conifer and wallaby control this year.

The funding from Biosecurity New Zealand is part of an accelerated investment in jobs for nature, particularly in the Queenstown Lakes area.

The Queenstown Lakes district is the worst affected area for wilding conifers, including areas around Wānaka. As set out in the media release, the bulk of funding will be spent in the Wakatipu management unit, with the remainder being spent in Central Otago and Luggate, said Manager Biosecurity and Rural Liaison Andrea Howard.

 The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has entered into funding agreements with Biosecurity New Zealand as part of its National Wilding Conifer and National Wallaby Programmes for operations starting between this year and 2024.

Under these agreements, ORC will receive

funding over the next four years, starting with more than $6.28m in 2020-21.

$5.9m in funding has been allocated for wilding conifer management in Otago during this year.

The National Wilding Conifer Control Programme’s accelerated work in Skippers Canyon, announced in June, helped to redeploy 20 staff from the Queenstown tourism industry and funded 31 additional new staff, including new ground staff and helicopter crew.

$373,000 in funding has been allocated for wallaby control in the current financial year, with further years’ budgets yet to be confirmed.

Most of the wallabies in Otago were nearer the border with South Canterbury, and towards the Maniototo but there have been rare sightings in the Wānaka area.

ORC General Manager Operations Gavin Palmer said the funding would go a long way to producing positive environmental outcomes.

“Wilding conifers and wallabies are both significant pests with economic and environmental impacts on Otago. This funding is a big step-up that will greatly assist the region in controlling these pests.

“The budget for wilding conifer control includes $5.244m allocated to the Wakatipu area in the current financial year.

This will be welcome investment in one of the parts of New Zealand hardest hit

by the impacts of Covid-19,” Palmer said.

ORC will provide funding to the Central Otago and Wakatipu Wilding Conifer Control Groups and the Department of Conservation to enable them to carry out control works.

Otago is divided into 17 “management units” for the purposes of controlling wilding conifers. The majority of the funding is allocated to controlling wilding conifers in the Wakatipu management unit, with the remainder allocated to the Central Otago and Luggate control units.

Under Otago’s Regional Pest Management Plan, wilding conifers (any introduced conifer tree) are identified as pests requiring progressive containment.

ORC also contributes $200k in grants to the two trusts, as well as staff time managing the wilding conifer programme in Otago.

We have different pest management objectives for wilding conifers and wallabies, said Howard.

“For wilding conifers, the objective is ‘progressive containment’, meaning we aim to stop the pest from spreading and/or contain it within a certain area. For wallabies, the objective is ‘eradication’, meaning reducing their numbers to zero in Otago.

“For wilding conifers, we work within the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme on administering and distributing funding to control efforts, primarily through the Wakatipu and Central Otago Wilding Conifer Control Groups. For wallabies, we undertake surveillance and wallaby control, respond to sightings and work with neighbouring councils towards eradication.”

Read edition 1005 of the Wānaka Sun here.