Conservation work, are there any jobs?

[Carey]

My husband works in conservation for the County Council in rural Suffolk, lovely job, appalling paid but he's happy. Have seen equivalent jobs advertised with Dept. of Conervation in NZ but alll state he needs work permit to apply. Usual probelm of us needing job offer before submitting EOI but needing permit before applying for jobs. Basically does anyone think a job would be offered to an applicant from Uk when a large part of the job relies on knowledge of native species etc.? Are these 'nice' jobs oversubscribed despite low pay? Anyone working currently in such a position?

Carey

[sarahw]

I'm working in conservation for an NGO (although I'm on maternity leave at the mo) - there are the most conservation (office type) jobs in Wellington where you have Government - MAF (Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry), MFish (Ministry of Fisheries), NIWA (National Institute of Water & Atomospheric Research) & DoC (Dept of Conservation), GWC (Greater Wellington Council) plus a small handfull of NGO organisations which are very small in comparison to the UK - we're talking 8 people in some of them! Also if he's into Antarctic atmospheric stuff I think there are places on the SI studying that and then there are universities around NZ depending on his qualifications.

Everyone seems to know everyone in the conservation arena here so it can be hard to break in as an unknown be prepared he may have to take a step back before he takes a step forwards - the way I got a job was as a volunteer for the NGO (but I was still finishing my degree whilst I was doing that) My job was in habitat restoration which was totally about NZ endemic species & working with some Maori groups - it was in at the deep end for me since I had to learn to be credible in front of Maori (especially with pronunciation!) as well as the species etc. but after a year in the position I felt really comfortable with my knowledge.

There are a lot of hands-on conservation jobs (mainly rangers) with DoC all over the country so if you're in for an adventure & living in a beautiful, remote & environmentally fragile area you might be in for a fantastic time.

However, if your husband is already working in the field & has experience then I'd take a look at the government jobs website:

http://www.jobs.govt.nz/jobs/default.aspx

You are most likely to need a work visa before coming over, but if he's qualified in something that is lacking here they may make an exception - the best thing he can do is actually get himself out here & arrange a meeting with someone in DoC - once they've got him in front of him you never know they may make an exception. If he struggles to get a job (they are not abundant & most get taken internally) then personally I'd sell up & come out on a holiday visa & maybe get a work visa after he gets a job offer. Some other people I know that came over have come on their partner's skills & got a work visa as default of being married/de facto - do you do something that might be in demand?

I came over with my husband who is in construction & his skills were in demand - although we still had to make the reccy trip to meet the company - its quite unlikely he'll get a job offer from the UK without coming out to meet people here - know it can be a bit of a shock having to come over but it'll also settle things that NZ really is for you too. Its not the clean, green country everyone thinks! Its just the fact there is a low population that it is 'cleaner & greener' than elsewhere!

The salaries are still abysmall in conservation here but you don't do a job like this for the money as you'll know.

I'd be happy to answer any more questions you have - feel free to PM me.

[ruthyroo]

Sarah has given loads of good information. I just wanted to add that there are some opportunities for conservation-related jobs at the regional or local level as well, though the majority are in Wellington - especially the policy making side of things. Regional councils do employ people as environmental education officers, biodiversity officers, community relations officers etc to work on specific projects. Some local councils do employ for similar-ish positions (I'm currently working in the parks and reserves dept in Dunedin, specialising in conservation / scenic / coastal reserve management on the policy side). Parks officers do a lot of hands on conservation work, though it can vary all the way from sportsfield management to scenic reserves.

One thing I have noticed in NZ is that conservation jobs are very much split between the hands-on ranger type positions (which require practical environmental management skills - path and fence building, pest control etc) and the policy-making roles, which are much more office based. The latter tend to be even more poorly paid than the former!

Regarding recognition of native species... I was slightly concerned about this too but it hasn't been a problem. A huge amount of the work that DOC does, especially on the ground, is concerned with managing pest species - primarily invasive exotics from Europe brought over and allowed to run wild. I now work on the principle that if I go onto a reserve and recognise a lot of the plants, it probably has a really really bad weed problem!! kind of reverse ecology! One friend that works for DOC described his job to me as 'counting, catching and killing' i.e. counting pests, trapping pests and killing pests - he didn't see many natives in his daily work!

In my experience regional and local councils are fairly open to employing people from the UK, and helping with the visa process. I would recommend that you work through the EOI as if your OH had been offered such a position, and check that it ticks all the right boxes, an that you are ready to roll with the application as soon as they make the offer.

Good luck - and yes the salaries are as low here as in the UK for conservation work!

"Its not the clean, green country everyone thinks! Its just the fact there is a low population that it is 'cleaner & greener' than elsewhere!"

Very very true - the gorse blooming all over Otago reminds me of that daily!

[Carey]

Thanks so much for your reply. We are planning a trip over in March and would love to pick your brains about how we go about setting up a meeting with someone at the DOC or at a regional council, so OH can have a chat. Any advice?
Yes we remember the often introduced 'pest' species from when we WWOOF'ed our way round NZ many years ago!

Thanks again,
Carey

[sarahw]

With regards to DoC - can you PM me and let me know exactly what type of work your OH is looking for - is it policy office job or is it hands-on work? That will depend on who he speaks to since DoC is pretty big in Welly. I'll find out a contact once I know what he's interested in.

With regards to GWC (Greater Wellington Council) which also encompasses where I'd think the majority of the jobs are for environmental work I'd phone the following number & ask for the head of whichever department your OH is interested in: http://www.gw.govt.nz/section18.cfm? as you can see there are a lot of environmental related departments!

T 04 384 5708

Its a lot easier to get through to people here on the phone without being given the 3rd degree & they'll probably give you a name if they aren't there & their e-mail address. (Don't be surprised if people are still on holiday until the end of Jan if you phone now - its quite normal in NZ for people to take part or the whole of Jan off.)