Landcare co-ordinator, Landcare Trust

Nardene Berry works with community groups to improve the environment. Picture / Amos Chapple

Name: Nardene Berry
Age: 34
Job title: Landcare co-ordinator
Working hours: 40-plus a week
Employer: Landcare Trust, environment centres, larger community groups, regional and district councils
Pay: $35,000-$45,000
Qualifications needed: people skills, environmental qualification or rural background helpful
Career prospects: seniority in same or similar position


Q: What do you do?

A: Things in the environment don't happen unless people do them. I support community groups which are doing things voluntarily. If I support them and they keep going I feel I'm doing a good job.

I help with funding applications and help people to get in touch with experts. A key role is to organise field days and promote sustainable land management. It's about collaboration and working together. Different people are triggered by different drivers - money, tourism, family.

I tap into different ways of changing things without them being regulated to do it. People can achieve much more working together in a group. If a key person leaves a group it can fall over. I can work with them until they find a new person.

This week I have been working with a Huntly group who have been tree planting, I'm organising another field day in a couple of weeks and doing a fair amount of office work. We have a database we record things on.

I reply to emails, respond to phone calls and attend evening meetings. My area covers from Taupo to the Bombays and across to the Coromandel - it's the region covered by Environment Waikato, which part-pays my salary.

Q: Why did you choose this job?

A: I have a strong social conscience and wanted to make a difference rather than be part of the problem. I feel we should look after the environment in a sustainable way. I also wanted a change from my previous job in outdoor education.

I have a degree in English and psychology and a post-graduate diploma in business communication, which are helpful but not necessary to the job.

Q: What's the best thing about the job?

A: Working with people and seeing what they are doing on their farms to make it better and seeing them get positive results, like less flooding and better bird life because they have done pest control.

Many people are making a difference. It's great to bring those pockets of people together. I like it when I bring people together and they can't stop talking.

A personal highlight was tracking, holding, weighing, and releasing a kiwi chick called Harley with the Moehau Environmental Group, which is aiming for a pest-free zone on the Coromandel. The worst thing is not having enough time and being stretched.

Q: What are your strengths?

A: I am quite good at networking and I'm a positive person. I'm not there to tell people what to do and give advice. I'm there to listen and hear from the groups and let them work it out.

I am able to maintain a professional distance and support rather than drive the process. I could be braver about ringing people up out of the blue. I tend to work with people I know rather than rolling up to a new farm.

Q: What are some projects you've worked on?

A: The MAF Sustainable Farming Fund runs a project to promote the functional use of native trees on farms. The Waikato has lost much of its lowland forest. We can try to bring it back in a way farmers can relate to.

I live at Te Pahu so I enjoy working with the Te Pahu Landcare Group, which is planting a reserve on Mt Pirongia.

The Waikato River Care group has a long-term goal to plant the river in natives from Ngaruawahia to Port Waikato. I think that has real potential to catch the imagination. Wouldn't it be great to see the whole river in natives? It would be a terrific native corridor.

Q: What's your job-hunting advice?

A: I count myself privileged to be doing this job without an environmental qualification. It would be best to have one, but I feel strongly about the environment and that does help. You have to be interested in what you do.

You could show your commitment to the environment by volunteering with community groups and getting your skills that way.