The problem of wilding pines spreading through the McKenzie Basin and Upper Waitaki Valley is a hole into which government money has poured, and yet the trees persist.
Now some innovative entrepreneurs have turned the problem into an opportunity through the foundation of Wilding & Co, a company harvesting the pines for the production of high-value essential oils.
The firm is one of eleven "social enterprises" nearing the completion of Launchpad, an accelerator programme run by the Akina Foundation designed to develop the organisations to the "investor-ready" stage.
The teams are also vying for a $20,000 prize from Contact Energy, won through a "People's Choice" vote hosted right now by the New Zealand Herald's Element magazine on elementmagazine.co.nz.
