Forestry training scheme Tupu Ake launched to bring youth into industry

Kevin Ihaka at the launch of the new forestry training scheme.

The billion trees initiative continues its march into Northland with a new forestry training scheme enabling youth to earn while they learn.
The scheme — called Tupu Ake — which offers 15 to 24-year-olds tertiary qualifications and life skills on top of fulltime paid work with Northland company Forest Protection Services (FPS) was officially launched in Whangarei on Friday.

FPS has partnered with NorthTec, which will provide the classroom component, and Te Matarau Education Trust, which will offer life skills and pastoral support.

Kevin Ihaka, managing director of FPS, said the 12-month scheme was geared to ongoing employment and create professional foresters.

"The Tupu Ake point of difference is that our young people walk straight into work with Forest Protection Services," Ihaka said.

His company offers the youth fulltime weekly wages for working in the forests.

"They're on the payroll, they're out there working while they're training right now."

Extra funding through Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), via the One Billion Trees initiative, pays for one day a week in the classroom and another on personal development.

The scheme has parallels to, but is not classed as, an apprenticeship.

FPS already employs the first 10 trainees and hopes to take another 20 next year.

"By the end of next year, that's 30 trained forestry workers for the industry," Ihaka said.

"We've wanted to do something like this for a long time but, as employers, it was always too hard to follow up on that pastoral care side of their training. The idea is they do 12 months on the scheme, and when they're finished they might want to stay on.

"If they don't, they've got the skills to find work elsewhere or they might continue tertiary learning. In the future we're going to need more trainers and managers in the industry in Northland."

The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will financially seed the billion tree exotic and native forest nationwide growth over 10 years.

Northland has already been pledged millions of those trees. The biggest forestry partnership so far involves a three-hapu Ngati Hine, Ngati Rangi and Ngati Kawa trust receiving $6 million to grow four million trees on 4000 hectares.

Of the $1 billion in the PGF, nearly $68 million is earmarked for the forestry industry.