Wenita is applying to Environment Southland for funding from its Environmental Enhancement Fund to protect, restore and enhance some of the unplanted areas within several of the Southland forests we manage for Kakapo Estate.
The Kakapo Estate contains around 2500 hectares of forest in Southland, including around 200 hectares of indigenous vegetation, which Wenita and Kakapo are keen to expand.
The funding application is for 50% of the cost of projects in six of the Kakapo forests – Anderson, Seaward Bush, Cairn Peak, Dunrobin, Monowai and Hedgehope.
The total area proposed for funding is about 52 hectares, and the projects include protecting two areas in the Anderson block which contain Lophomyrtus obcordate (seedlings pictured) – a plant which is listed as nationally critical under the New Zealand Threat Classification system – and removal of invasive weeds around the prominent rocky bluffs in the Cairn Peak block.
All of the project areas have been independently assessed by Wildland Consultants Ltd.