Carve out a career pathway for yourself with this industry focused programme at Land Based Training. This course is a great certification move for those already in the industry, those who want to enter it, and those looking to start their own business.
Industry Focused Training
Proactive pest operations ensures a safer environment, and pest management and control in rural areas are designed to protect crops, livestock and the wider environment. Gaining a pest control certification will help make Aotearoa a better place for everyone.
What Will I Learn?
Upon completing this programme, you will understand how best to approach pest control and pest monitoring in both urban and rural environments. The skills you will gain will include identifying and controlling hazards and pest identification. You will also learn how to use poisons and traps safely and how to use a vehicle securely when on the job.
There are sections around the biology of pests and professional communication processes in the industry, and you will also learn some basic survival skills. This programme covers animal and plant pests in rural environments.
Pests in New Zealand
If you are looking at engaging with this course, it may help to understand what constitutes a pest here – read on to discover some information about common pests in New Zealand.
Possums
Possums have been seriously affecting the ecosystems in Aotearoa for decades. These animals are opportunistic omnivores, which means they can completely strip a native tree of leaves, fruit, buds and flowers. This negatively impacts the growth of the tree and the animals, birds and insects that rely on it for sustenance.Possums also eat native insects like weta, land snails, and they push native birds out of the area by nesting in trees. Possums have also been filmed eating the chicks and the eggs of endangered native birds – and they spread bovine tuberculosis.Keeping possum levels down is essential to the ongoing health of our natural ecosystems.
Gorse
Gorse is widespread throughout the country, affecting pasture, roadside verges, scrubland, forest margins and coastal habitats, reducing the area available for grazing by livestock on pasture and invading natural open spaces. With foliage that is prone to becoming very dry and susceptible to fire, it also fixes nitrogen in the soil and can lead to adverse effects on water quality.
Choose Land Based Training
This Land Based Training Course mixes theory and practice to provide an excellent foundation for a career in this industry.
Course Start Dates
Course Details
This programme is designed to provide graduates with the skills and knowledge required to carry out pest control or pest monitoring in a rural or urban environment. Learners will gain skills which include identifying and controlling hazards, basic survival skills, communication skills, biodiversity, safe vehicle use during pest operations, pest identification, biology, control and monitoring skills, traps and poisons use to control animal, plant and insect pests.
This programme is targeted at individuals who have recently begun working in the pest operations industry or who wish to enter the pest operations industry. The programme has strands in either rural, or in and/or around built urban environments and students can choose the strand option they wish to study upon enrolment.
Compulsory across all Strands
Course Code | Course Name |
NZPO1.001 | Safety in the Workplace |
NZPO1.002 | Workplace Communication |
NZPO1.003 | Pest Control Impacts |
Rural Pest Monitoring Strand
Course Code | Course Name |
NZPO1.009 | Operate Vehicles for Pest Monitoring |
NZPO1.010 | Rural Pest Identification – Monitoring (Animal and Plant) |
NZPO1.011 | Monitor Rural Pests (Animal) |
NZPO1.012 | Monitor Rural Pests (Plants) |
NZPO1.013 | Capstone – Monitor Rural Pests |
Outcome Statement
Graduates of this programme will be able to:
Maintain health and safety in a range of conditions
Communicate, report and record information for workplace requirements.
Identify the purpose and impacts of pest operations.
Graduates of the Rural Pest Control strand will also be able to:
Operate vehicles in a rural environment
Identify and control a pest type in a rural environment
Graduates of the Rural Pest Monitoring strand will also be able to:
Operate vehicles in a rural environment
Monitor a pest type in a rural environment
Graduates of the Urban Pest Control strand will also be able to:
Identify, control and monitor pests commonly found in an urban environment
Education Pathways
On completion of this programme, students may progress on to the New Zealand Certificate in Pest Management (Level 4) with strands in Pest Animal and Pest Plant.
Employment Pathways
Graduates of this qualification may be employed in a range of roles in Pest Control enterprises requiring limited supervision to identify pests and control methods, operate vehicles and monitor operations.
Duration
Full-Time 18 Weeks
Part-Time 52 Weeks
Academic: Open Entry
Other requirements: Learners must hold an appropriate vehicle licence if required to drive on the open road
Domestic students with ESOL: Must be proficient in English language.
This programme is currently only offered to domestic students.
The cost of this programme is $1,798 inclusive of GST
Pest Operations (Level 3) FAQs
Napier and Palmerston North
This is an 80 credit NCEA course, that teaches you how to carry out pest control or monitoring in a rural and/or urban environment.
You will achieve your NZQA Level 3 in Pest Operations. Graduates of this course will have the skills and knowledge to be a capable and confident worker within many of the jobs in the pest control sector.
Our full course covers both Operations and Monitoring for pest control.
By the end of this course, you will have completed the National Certificate in Pest Operations (Level 3) which is an NZQA recognised qualification. This is sought after in the Pest Operations industry. After doing this course, you will have a higher chance of being employed in a Pest Operations role.
This course runs for 18 weeks full-time.
The cost of this programme is $1,798 inclusive of GST.
Yes! Working in the Pest Operations industry is not a requirement for this course.