26 October 2006
Kanuka and labour from Manawatu Prison will soon be helping Horizons Regional Council with revegetation work near Ashhurst.
"Corrections is supplying kanuka plants and prison work parties to help stabilise and revegetate steep country in Manawatu," says Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) Nurseries Manager Michael Queree.
"Vegetation is important as it helps to control erosion, slow down rainfall run off, acts as a buffer or filter to trap sediment and absorb nutrient from run-off that would otherwise contaminate streams," says Horizons' Environmental Coordinator-Biodiversity Aaron Madden.
Horizons contacted CIE and asked for them to supply plants and plant-out services for a project in the Ashhurst area.
Mr Maddon says it is important areas like these are well vegetated because it suppresses brush weeds, enhances wildlife habitat, and contributes to local landscape values.
"We contacted CIE because they have been fantastically helpful in supplying plants for many of our environmental projects in the past seven years, the most recent being the Manawatu River Enhancement project," says Mr Madden. "If they don’t have what we want in stock, they will go out of their way to get it in for us."
3500 kanuka plants have been grown in the nursery at Manawatu Prison and will be planted out at Ashhurst by a work party in early October he says.
The supply and plant-out is part of Manawatu’s horticulture employment training programme says Mr Queree. "In the 2005/06 financial year this programme provided prisoners with 220 unit standards and over 30,000 employment hours."
The nursery provides plants to order, specialising in native plants and trees, coastal hardy and wetland plants, and riparian margins. It can also provide post-planting care services.
"This type of project is also important in terms of reintegration," says Mr Queree. "It provides prisoners with training, skills, and work experience that will help them obtain post-release employment."
For this reason Corrections' recently launched prisoner employment strategy aims to increase the number of prisoners employed and expand these types of projects.
"Imparting basic work skills, teaching industry-specific skills, and assisting prisoners to achieve industry-recognised qualifications… all the things that research shows reduces reoffending through improving prisoner employability."