‘Recloaking’ a much better use of funds

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Re: Raukumara project a case in point, December 5 letter.

Thanks Grant — just to clarify, at this stage Recloaking Papatūānuku is looking solely to central government to support the initiative.

The focus is on utilising the up to $26 billion New Zealand will need to pay offshore entities to grow trees to offset our high-carbon economy. We think it makes much more sense to spend the bulk of those funds domestically to support the transition of marginal farmland on erosion-prone slopes and flood plains back into indigenous forest — and to better protect at least 1.6 million hectares of existing native bush, including areas like the Raukumara that is in the process of collapsing unless we maintain the interventions the Raukumara Pae Maunga team have been making over recent years.

The Jobs for Nature initiative has been hugely successful, as we can see with Raukumara Pae Maunga and other ecological restoration projects around Tairāwhiti.

It seems the new Government is open to the idea, so let’s encourage our elected representatives to show they appreciate the multiple benefits these kinds of initiatives offer both our rural communities and our unique ecosystems.

These issues need cross-party support. They’re far bigger than any of us and there is a huge amount at risk if the momentum and gains made are not retained.

Recloaking Papatūānuku presents a compelling business case for sustainable funding to support both the existing and regenerating indigenous forest systems that this region needs more than anywhere else in the country.

Manu Caddie