Hon Maggie Barry
Minister of Conservation

3 September 2015

Community groups receive $918,000 in War on Weeds funding

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry has announced a $918,000 commitment to the War on Weeds through this year’s round of Community Conservation Partnerships Fund grants.

$500,000 will go to a significant joint programme run by Weedbusters NZ and the QEII National Trust, and will be used to fund voluntary weedbusting efforts by community groups, alongside regional and local councils.

An additional $418,000 will go to other projects tackling problem plants such as old man’s beard, banana passionfruit and other members of the Dirty Dozen weeds launched on August 27.

At Tuff Crater in Auckland today Ms Barry visited a weeding group run by Forest and Bird, in conjunction with Weedbusters, aimed at restoring the crater’s native landscape.

“Tuff Crater is a great example of a community project which has made a tangible difference to a landscape,” Ms Barry says. “A dedicated band of volunteers have weeded out exotic plants like climbing asparagus and ivy, set up a network of pest traps and made the crater into a place everyone can enjoy, full of native wildlife and plants in the heart of the North Shore.”

“There are community initiatives like this across New Zealand. Through Weedbusters and the CCPF funding, we can help them fight the War on Weeds and make significant gains for conservation.”

Weedbusters and the QEII Trust’s joint bid will enable its existing groups to ramp up their efforts as well as help to form new groups.

Further Community Conservation Partnership Fund announcements, including money for wilding pine control as part of the War on Weeds, will be made over the next month.

In total, more than $1.2 million will be committed to weeds in this round of CCPF grants.

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