Invercargill City Council partners with iwi to protect forest and support jobs

A groundbreaking new partnership between Iwi and the Invercargill City Council is set to support job growth, training and address climate change.

The Council and the Te Tapu o TÄne collective have joined forces to develop a native plant nursery and propagation venture at the Council’s current nursery site and adjacent land at Donovan Park.

Te Tapu o TÄne was formed by WaihÅpai, Awarua, Hokonui and Åraka-Aparima rÅnaka when they were awarded $1.98 million funding through the New Zealand Government’s 1 Billion Trees Fund and $2.125 million from the New Zealand Department of Conversation’s Jobs for Nature Fund earlier this year.

Invercargill City Council Manager Parks and Recreation’ Caroline Rain said the partnership was an exciting step in which the two organisations could achieve cultural, social, environmental and employment outcomes to make a difference for the community.

Rain advised “we are thrilled to be working alongside Te Tapu o TÄne to bring this venture to life and support Iwi across their takiwÄ in training rangatahi, providing employment opportunities and contributing to climate change solutions through the planting of native forest.

"The opportunity to work closely together to leverage Government funding and support and optimise opportunities that are important to each organisation has been tested and we believe there is a valuable partnership in the making."

Te Tapu o TÄne Pou TÅraka Chief Executive Jana Davis said the partnership was a shining example of Crown and Iwi putting their best foot forward in the nature space and working towards a climate resilient community, commenting "I am excited to commence this hikoi (journey) that will reaffirm direct links back to KÄ Papatipu RÅnaka o Murihiku and working closely with Invercargill City Council to highlight areas of environmental importance to the community.

"Our goal is to make meaningful impact to reducing unemployment, creating pathways, and fulfilling our role as mana whenua kaitiaki to increase the wellbeing of our people and all people within our takiwÄ."

Davis said Te Tapu o TÄne aimed to train 25 kaimahi over the next three years as the project scales up, with several nurseries eventually producing up to 700,000 plants and trees each year.

She added “this is an ambitious project which will help to restore the mauri of our whenua and awa."

Rain said the venture would be mutually beneficial and would provide the opportunity to develop infrastructure at the nursery and advance seed sowing and planting technology, going on to say “the ability for Council to improve our recruitment and retention of local rangatahi already engaged in the horticultural sector by this partnership is of major benefit to our city and we anticipate training opportunities across the parks and recreation team."

The Invercargill City Council nursery provides the majority of the plants used in parks and reserves across the city.

Editor's note: Iwi are the largest social units in Māori society. The Māori-language word iwi roughly translates to 'people' or 'nation', and is often translated as 'tribe', or 'a confederation of tribes'.

Image: Invercargill's Queens Park (top, credit: Invercargill City Council/Dakota Brown) and gInvercargill City Council and Te Tapu o TÄne Iwi representatives come together to mark the partnership [from left, Jana Davis, Cyril Gilroy, Evelyn Cook, Caroline Rain, Chris McAuley and Steve Gibling]. Credit: Invercargill City Council.