The Government has boosted investment in the QEII National Trust to reinforce the protection of New Zealand's biodiversity on private land.
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced that the government will provide an additional NZD 4.5 million to the conservation body QEII National Trust over three years.
QEII Trust has worked with farmers and landowners who voluntarily, using covenants, set aside permanently protected areas, including forests and wetlands, on private property.
"Many of our most at-risk plants and animals are found on private land. Landowners contribute significantly to conservation efforts through additional planting, pest control, and fencing work,” said Potaka.
"The QEII Trust has proven extremely effective in collaborating to protect these crucial habitats, particularly in lowland and coastal zones where much of our threatened biodiversity exists.”
He added that this funding increase acknowledged the Trust's excellent track record and growing demand from landowners to protect special areas of bush, wetland, and biodiversity for future generations.
This brought the Trust's total annual funding from the government to just under NZD 5.8 million per year for the next three years.
“For nearly half a century, QEII Trust has worked with landowners, councils and others to protect over 187,000 hectares of land in 5,200 covenanted areas – you could think of it as about 187,000 rugby fields.”
Potaka also announced a one-off funding injection of NZD 750,000 over three years for the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust Sanctuary. This popular tourist destination in the Waikato region is home to native kākāpō, Mahoenui giant wētā, takahē, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu (native NZ fish), and tuna (longfin eel).
“I’m confident this funding will help the sanctuary continue their work with our precious native species. We all have a role to play in looking after New Zealand’s incredible and vulnerable nature.”
