Restoring northern Southland’s high country tussock grasslands.

To deliver a strategic wilding pine control programme for the Mid Dome area in Southland, Boffa Miskell designed an operational plan, managed all aspects of its delivery, and assisted with funding bids and the broader promotion of the control programme.

Using GIS (Geographic Information System) and 3D mapping technology effectively communicated the scale of the problem to stakeholders and increased the efficiency of wilding pine eradication efforts.

Presenting this information to stakeholders in a 3D web viewer helped to give a clear understanding of the immense scale and challenging topography of the Mid Dome site. The 3D web view shows the areas where wilding pine control work has been completed, the type of control scheduled, and progress.

Location

Southland

Project date

2014 - ongoing

Awards

Category Finalist | Environment and Sustainability | New Zealand Spatial Excellence Awards

The improved efficacy of the control programme and the provision of a highly visual, easily-understood overview of the work at Mid Dome has resulted in further funding for this essential biosecurity operation.

A fundamental requirement of the geospatial component of this project was that the final output had to be intuitive to use and able to be rolled out without installing specialist software.

High-resolution aerial photography of the site was commissioned and used to digitise areas of the wilding pine tree infestations. Management tools, aerial photography, infestation areas and control programmes are also loaded into the web viewer.

The control programme team can review previous or projected control in the 3D web viewer to monitor progress. Project stakeholders can use it to easily understand the rationale behind decision-making.

Additionally, the 3D web viewer provides an engaging display of data and improves communication of the operational plan with the trust, stakeholders, and politicians such as Minister for Conservation, Eugenie Sage. This allows Boffa Miskell and the Mid Dome Wilding Trees Charitable Trust to showcase the professionalism of the control programme.