OIA24-0151
15 April 2024
A McDonald
[FYI request #26041 email]
Dear A McDonald
Thank you for your email of 9 March 2024, requesting information relating to funding for the
Jobs for Nature programme. Your request has been considered under the Of icial Information
Act 1982.
On 9 April 2024, you were advised of an extension of the timeframe for the request, to enable
additional time for the necessary consultations to take place.
The Jobs for Nature Programme is a $1.19 billion investment in nature-based work initiated in 2020
to support New Zealand’s recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme is
administered across five government agencies: Department of Conservation, Land Information
New Zealand, Ministry for Primary Industries, Ministry for the Environment, and Ministry of
Business, Innovation, and Employment.
Agencies have worked together, and with councils, iwi/hapū, landowners, community catchment
groups and other stakeholders, to achieve the programme’s core objectives. The funding has been
used to deliver work, including planting vegetation to support land stabilisation and restore
freshwater and biodiversity, fencing waterways, pest control (including wilding pines and animal
pests), remediating fish passages, and skil s training for career development.
The focus at the cross-agency level has been to support and oversee overall programme delivery,
including through monitoring; risk identification and management; social and economic evaluation;
and reporting on the benefits and expected long-term outcomes of Jobs for Nature.
The Ministry for Primary Industries’ share of the programme funding was $188 mil ion.
With the programme set to close in 2025/2026, and most projects being completed at various times
before then, focus is shifting more towards ensuring the investment in people and nature leaves an
enduring legacy.
Charles Fergusson Building, 34-38 Bowen Street
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
mpi.govt.nz
You requested:
Please provide breakdown (including forecast) JFN funding contracted but unused from 1 July
2024, by the end of the current four-year programme, showing:
- total dollar value of unused funding
- names of each contracted party with unused funding, dollar value of unused funding for
each contracted party
- if the funding is planned to be extended beyond 30 June 2024, the parties that the funding
wil be extended for (incl. under consideration), and the dollar value under consideration for
extension or extended.
Biosecurity New Zealand is not forecasting any contracted but unused funding for the National
Wilding Conifer Control Programme or the Tipu Mātoro National Wallaby Eradication Programme
for the 2023/2024 financial year.
In 2020 Agriculture and Investment Services received $9.8 mil ion of Jobs for Nature funding for
farmer-led extension projects across catchments. There were nine catchment group projects
funded, each developed by the catchment group to address environmental and practice issues
particular to their own area and farmer base. Al nine projects have been completed and included
initiatives such as fencing of water ways, riparian planting and wetland restoration, pest control,
and water quality testing.
Te Uru Rākau – New Zealand Forest Service is not forecasting any contracted but unused
Jobs for Nature funding for One Bil ion Trees Fund projects for the 2023/2024 financial year.
More information on the J4N programme and funding can be found at the following links:
•
https:/ www.jobsfornature.govt.nz/assets/Publications/F_8241-MFE_JFN_Annual-
Review_2023_v12.pdf
•
https:/ www.jobsfornature.govt.nz/funded-projects/
Should you have any concerns with this response, I would encourage you to raise these with
the Ministry for Primary Industries at
[email address]. Alternatively, you
are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Office of the Ombudsman.
Contact details are: Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143 or at
[email address].
Yours sincerely
John Walsh
Director Readiness and Response Services
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