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A kakapo chick rearing facility in Invercargill upgraded with the help of offenders carrying out community work is playing a vital role in the species’ recovery, Corrections Minister Judith Collins and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry say.

The most vulnerable kakapo chicks hatched during this year’s record breeding season are being hand-reared at the site, a converted building offered by the Invercargill City Council.

The centre is needed for chicks which have fallen ill, or were not putting on sufficient weight in the wild.

Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry today signed an agreement which will see offenders engaged in conservation work and learning new skills at the same time.

Under the Good to Grow partnership between Corrections and the Department of Conservation (DOC), offenders on community sentences will help look after DOC sites, upgrade and maintain tracks and help to win the War on Weeds across the country.