22 October 2013 Lincoln University to apply expertise to restoration project

International mining company Rio Tinto has confirmed that it will continue funding a major ecological restoration project currently underway at Punakaiki on the South Island’s West Coast.

The Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Project (PCRP) has been underway for five years and is part of a four-way partnership between Lincoln University, Rio Tinto, the Department for Conservation (DoC) and Conservation Volunteers New Zealand (CVNZ). Professor of Ecology, Nicholas Dickinson, and his colleagues in the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences have been spear-heading the project for Lincoln University.

Rio Tinto has committed to another three years of funding the PCRP, which involves the restoration of a 70-hectare site that has been negatively impacted over the years through both mining and agriculture. The company originally bought the site to mine ilmenite (an oxide of titanium), but later gifted it to DoC.

The new three-year arrangement will see a continuation and consolidation of the work previously performed on the site, which saw the removal of gorse and weeds and the planting of some 100,000 native plant seedlings.

Future plans aim to enhance the considerable conservation and tourism value of the site. Lincoln University’s contribution to the ongoing project includes scientific monitoring of restoration indicators such as key plants, mammals, birds and insects so as to provide important data to successfully manage the project and gauge its overall success.

As well as using the site as an educational tool for mapping the transition from pasture to forest in the interest of developing a best-practice model, a dedicated Research Project Manager from Lincoln University will also been assigned to undertake additional high quality research.

Lincoln University is also behind a conceptual design proposal for the site which would include a 1.5km walkway incorporating a viewing shelter of the Westland Petrel breeding site. The walkway would also be divided into ‘modules’ aimed at showcasing the site as a ‘living lab’ by drawing attention to the various restorative projects underway in the area.

The design proposal is in its early stage of development and will involve a team of Lincoln University Landscape Architecture students led by Associate Professor Design and Innovation, Mick Abbott .

During a break in negotiations between the four project partners on Thursday 17 October, Lincoln University’s Assistant Vice-Chancellor Business Development, Jeremy Baker , thanked the three project partners for further bringing Lincoln University into what he considers a “fantastic project.”

“This project gives us a great opportunity to further enhance educational outcomes and grow the knowledge base when it comes to conservation and ecological restoration. However, the project also has notable tourism, design, laboratory science, and commercial management aspects to it as well.  This plays well with Lincoln’s overall strengths and fits nicely with our guiding principles to Feed the World, Protect the Future and Live Well,” said Mr Baker.