The Far North's manuka scrublands - once seen as worthless wasteland - could instead create 200 jobs and millions of dollars a year in sales as the region taps into world's most sought-after honey.
Long-term the rewards could be even greater, with Far North iwi looking to cash in on the honey's anti-bacterial properties. The ultimate aim is a centre of excellence in Kaitaia based on manuka's special medicinal qualities and capitalising on the high levels of bioactive compounds in Northland manuka honey.
Think a college for beekeepers, a manufacturing plant to process medical-grade honey and make manuka-based medical products; a laboratory to develop new medical products; and large-scale production of manuka to plant as a "nurse" for slow-growing plantations of kauri and totara.
Iwi authority Te Runanga o Te Rarawa, Masterton-based Watson and Son - New Zealand's biggest beekeeper and manuka honey producer - and regional development agency Enterprise Northland are working together on the project.
The training college is expected to be up and running in Kaitaia by mid-2009.
Wayne Hutchinson, of Enterprise Northland, said the group was aiming to train 40 beekeepers within 18 months. A building had already been selected and talks with educational authorities the Tertiary Education Commission and the Agriculture Industry Training Organisation started yesterday.
He said the project also involved intensifying beekeeping as a cottage industry in the Far North. The quick-growing manuka planted for the bees could shelter plantings of kauri and totara. While the original forester would never harvest the trees, the trees could earn carbon credits and add to the sale value of a property.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chief executive Kevin Robinson said the project could create 200 direct jobs within five years. Annual earnings from honey at full production could be about $68 million and added-value processing within Northland would increase returns.
Enterprise Northland chief executive Brian Roberts said an even greater opportunity was that the venture could break into the international market for manuka-infused bandages to treat wounds and fight "superbugs". Manuka was more effective, cleaner, greener and safer than the present alternatives, the main one being silver-infused bandages.
Watson and Son's managing director Denis Watson, who has whanau links to the North, said manuka as a replacement for silver-infused bandages was "a multi-billion dollar opportunity".
"The challenge is to get enough manuka honey to satisfy the demand ... we are currently experiencing just the beginning of the potential of manuka as a healing and health product," he said.
The company has established international markets and also owns an advanced wound care company in the UK.
Mr Robinson said the venture represented a huge opportunity for Maori in the Far North.
"For over 30 years a lot of the land has been under-utilised and has reverted back to manuka with young natives regenerating. Instead of cutting and burning manuka we're looking at sowing seed to increase the resource."
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