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Mangawhaifocus November 18, 2024
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New opportunities to support crucial conservation projects
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The goal for the tara iti project is to raise $1.3 million over the next five years.
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An adult tara iti. Photo: Jacob Ball
Efforts to save the endangered tari iti / NZ fairy tern are set to get a boost with a partnership by the Department of Conservation and New Zealand Nature Fund to create opportunities for donors and philanthropists to support high priority conservation projects. DOC has selected projects to save the tara iti, the Alborn skink and a rare limestone plant ecosystem, and donors can choose which to support, through a nature prospectus launched this month. The NZ Nature Fund will raise and manage the funds. “New Zealand’s unique biodiversity is in trouble with more than 4000 native species threatened or at risk of extinction, so we’re innovating to get action for nature,” DOC’s deputy director-general of public affairs Sia Aston said.
“There are passionate people in New Zealand and overseas who want to make a difference for nature and we’re making it easier for them to contribute.” Aston said DOC created the prospectus to accelerate work on threatened species and ecosystems, and the NZ Nature Fund could expertly attract investment to the projects. NZ Nature Fund founding trustee and former conservation minister Denis Marshall said the partnership provided new avenues for private donors, large and small, to make a real impact on the ground. “We are in an urgent fight against time and our most critically endangered species need help right now. This helps DOC to build awareness about where the effort is urgently needed, while also enabling donors of every
size to participate and make a difference.” The initial goal is to raise $4.6 million for the three projects, extending and accelerating crucial conservation work. The goal for the tara iti project is to raise $1.3 million over the next five years. According to DOC, tara iti is New Zealand’s most endangered endemic bird with fewer than 35 left in the Northland and Auckland regions. The tara iti project will build on existing conservation activities and include the creation of new safe breeding sites, predator control and surveys to understand how the coastal bird uses the Kaipara Harbour over winter. With a population of just 40 to 100 individuals, the Alborn skink is at high risk
of extinction. The Alborn skink project will create a five-hectare predator-free fenced sanctuary in beech forest near Reefton to protect its only known population and safeguard its future. A groundbreaking project to restore the mauri (life force) of a rare limestone ecosystem in the Waitaki Valley will save critically endangered limestone plants and reset the ecosystem to be self-sustaining. The project involves removing weeds, propagating and replanting the threatened plants in their special limestone habitat, and creating a forest buffer around the site to protect against extreme weather and weed invasion. For more info, and to donate: https:// nznaturefund.org/projects/tara-iti/
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