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A targeted rate that protects and restores Auckland’s environment is delivering beyond its investment, thanks to the support of partners and volunteers.
Auckland Council’s environmental services team delivers natural environment and climate outcomes Auckland-wide, through a programme that delivers great value at community level.
At April’s Revenue, Expenditure and Value Committee, chaired by Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, the division’s financial performance review highlighted its multi-pronged approach.
“Protecting our unique natural environment requires ongoing management of pressures, such as pest plants and animals. Through the targeted rate, it receives dedicated investment so, ultimately, we have an Auckland we are proud to call home,” says Cr Simpson.
“The environmental programme is delivering great results region-wide and in our local communities too, thanks to key partnerships, co-funding, new tools to lift productivity and volunteers.
“The natural environment programme is 97 per cent rates funded, which is around $43 per year per ratepayer through the Natural Environment Targeted Rate (NETR) and some general rates.
“That investment delivers good value for money,” says Simpson. “In some cases, it delivers a quantifiable $6 return for every $1 invested.”
How we’re investing for the natural environment
NETR and general rates funding delivers and supports a range of environmental activity, including community-led initiatives across all Auckland Council wards.
Auckland Council environmental services general manager Samantha Hill says environmental protection and restoration is a long-term game and the focus is on delivering on commitments that will have enduring future impact.
“We are here to protect, improve and minimise risks to the natural environment and we can’t do this alone. It is important to recognise and acknowledge the tireless commitment and support from our partners and communities,” says Ms Hill.
“The NETR-funded work has enabled a wide range of community-led action and youth involvement. At the same time, key partnerships and regularly assessing opportunities to improve, such as new technologies and tools, means we continue to deliver value for money.”
Rates funding helps contract specialist environmental services; enables partnerships with investors to deliver even greater value; and helps activate community-led conservation, including around $2 million per year in contestable grants.
Community grants, technical advice and training is funded by both the NETR and general rates, helping deliver proactive action at local level but also added value.
For example, the Community Coordination and Facilitation Grant saw $1 million in funding shared across 36 local community groups in 2024 – ultimately resulting in over 276,000 volunteer hours and third-party funding on projects benefiting the natural environment.
It also delivered a $6.10 return for each $1 of grant funding invested.
Environmental services work closely with local boards to design and deliver locally driven initiatives, supporting over 110 local board projects worth $4 million in 2023-2024.
Additional strategic partnerships with business, mana whenua, central government, community and private investors, and other groups, are also adding value to the programme.
For example, over $2 million has been sourced so far from central government and private investors for the first phase of the Kawau Island multi-species pest eradication project. Private sector business and philanthropic funding has also been secured for other projects.
Detailed information on NETR-funded activity delivered in each local board can be found on this PDF [7.77MB].
To find out more about Auckland Council’s environmental programme, visit www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/environment
What the Natural Environment Targeted Rate (NETR) delivers
The current priorities:
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upgrade and re-open tracks in the Waitākere Ranges in accordance with the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park 2019-2024 Track Reopening Programme
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control possums across the region, in high priority sites
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adequate control of pest plants for 66 per cent of significant ecological sites within council parks by 2028
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work in partnership to achieve pest mammal eradications on Kawau, Aotea and Waiheke islands
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protect regionally threatened species and high priority ecosystems
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support community-led action through the provision of advice, grants and tools
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deliver in partnership with mana whenua
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implement a comprehensive Pest Free Warrant programme to reduce pest spread to islands by the full range of high-risk businesses.
What’s been achieved to date:
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thirty-three tracks upgraded in the Waitākere Ranges
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Hūnua Ranges Regional Park remains free of kauri dieback disease
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Hūnua and Waitakere Ranges regional parks are kept free of feral deer and goats
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30 per cent of rural mainland Auckland has possum populations maintained at/below target densities for biodiversity protection (at June 2024)
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Kōkako populations in the Hūnua Ranges have increased from 106 pairs in 2018 to 259 in 2024, as a result of possum and predator control
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regional conservation status assessments have been completed for freshwater fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, bats and vascular plants
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51 per cent of priority native habitats in regional parks have pest plants being effectively controlled towards, or managed below, target densities for biodiversity protection (at June 2024)
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partnerships are underway with Ngāti Manuhiri, Department of Conservation, Predator Free 2050 Ltd, Ministry for Primary Industries and the Kawau community to eradicate possums and wallabies on Kawau Island
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the council is also partnering with Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea to eradicate rats, cats and pest plants on Aotea. Alongside Te Korowai o Waiheke, the council is supporting the eradication of stoats and the trialling of rat eradication on Waiheke Island
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around 800 scheduled and unscheduled vehicle and passenger ferry sailings are inspected for pests each year. As a result, all Hauraki Gulf Islands where non-native predators such as rats and stoats have been eradicated remain free of these pests.