New $1m Fund Backs Community Fight Against Wilding Pines

The funding will come through the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme and will sit alongside $109 million being invested in wilding pine control nationwide over the next three years.

Community groups, landowners and volunteers tackling wilding pines across New Zealand will have access to a new $1 million funding programme designed to strengthen locally led control work and stop infestations from spreading into farmland and environmentally sensitive areas.

Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard announced the two-year fund while speaking at the national Wilding Pine Conference in Southland, saying communities already doing much of the hands-on work needed greater support to continue clearing unwanted conifers. The funding will come through the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme and will sit alongside $109 million being invested in wilding pine control nationwide over the next three years.

Local Groups Get More Support for Control Work

The new programme will focus on grassroots projects where volunteers, farmers, community organisations, contractors and councils are already working together to control infestations in their own areas. Hoggard said these groups have made substantial progress and the additional funding will give local efforts more backing while keeping communities closely involved in decisions about work on the ground.

Wilding pines are trees that have spread naturally from planted forests, shelterbelts and other sources into places where they are not wanted, creating dense areas of growth that can gradually take over open landscapes if seedlings are not removed early.

Wilding Pines Put Farmland and Water at Risk

The problem reaches beyond the appearance of rural landscapes, with uncontrolled wilding pines threatening productive farmland, native plants and ecosystems while placing additional pressure on water supplies in sensitive catchments. Dense infestations can also increase wildfire risks, creating another concern for rural communities and land managers.

Hoggard described wilding pines as a serious problem for productive rural New Zealand and said national coordination remains necessary because of the scale of the challenge. Local knowledge has an equally important place in control work, particularly when landowners and community groups understand where infestations are developing and which areas need attention first.

$109m National Programme Targets Further Spread

The $1 million community fund forms part of a much larger push to bring wilding pine growth under control, with the Government committing $109 million over three years to increase work across the country and tackle infestations before they become larger and more expensive to remove.

Combining national investment with community-led projects is expected to support work at different scales, from major control operations covering large landscapes to smaller local efforts where volunteers and landowners can prevent new areas from becoming established.

Expressions of interest for the community funding programme are expected to open later this year, giving eligible groups an opportunity to put forward projects for support during the two-year funding period.