Forestry and Conservation course students attend east Taranaki kiwi release

The course graduates and staff completed trapping for the 800 Trust.

The recent graduation class of the Taranaki Forestry and Conservation course has attended a kiwi release.

The graduates were joined by Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke and workforce co-ordinator Samantha Vega, representatives from Ngāti Maru and Tupu ā Nuku - a local environmental workforce development programme led by Ngāti Maru at the release on land in Tututawa, east Taranaki.

The release was a collaboration between the 800 Trust, the Taranaki Kiwi Trust and the Rotokare Scenic Reserve.

The graduates were invited to the release as a thank you for helping 800 Trust’s Miranda Wells and her husband Daryl Egarr with planting trees, deploying traps, releasing natives, possum control, pruning and removing weeds.

The 800 Trust looks after around 1600ha in the Waitiri Conservation area and is transforming 230ha from an old forestry block to a bird food sanctuary.

Thanks to their conservation efforts, more than 40 adult kiwi live in the area. In addition, more than 30 kiwi eggs have gone through Operation Next Egg where kiwi eggs and chicks are removed from their burrows and cared for in captivity before being released when they are old enough to look after themselves in the wild.

The recent forestry course graduates attended the New Plymouth arborist business Tree machine-run course. Their accreditation is through NorthTec and the pastoral care for the students is provided by Tupu ā Nuku, which is the environmental arm of Ngāti Maru. Stratford District Council’s Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) Workforce Programme helps to fund Tupu ā Nuku and its pastoral care for the students, and provides other support, such as workwear, to students.

The students graduated with their forestry level 2 and chainsaw licence, but the biggest success of the course is how it helps to get the students work-ready.