Funding available for young conservationists
Funding available for young conservationists
The Otago Peninsula Trust and the Department of Conservation are calling for nominations for the Toroa Award.
The Toroa Award acknowledges environmental action programs undertaken by schools, classes, groups or individuals that support conservation in their community. It’s a joint award supported by DOC and the Otago Peninsula Trust.
“The award was first announced in 2010 and is now into its fourth year. We’ve been really impressed with the high standard of nominations in previous years” said Rebecca Brown, Outreach and Education Co-ordinator for DOC Coastal Otago.
The 2013 winner of the award was Macandrew Bay School from Dunedin for their “Survive and thrive: oceans and waterways” programme. The school used the Marine Metre Squared project to identify and record marine life on Macandrew Bay Beach, and also cleaned up the beach and promoted reusable lunch wrappers to reduce the amount of plastic waste entering the marine environment.
All schools and early childhood centres in the Coastal Otago area (Dunedin City, Clutha District, Waitaki District south of the Waitaki River and inland to Duntroon) are invited to apply.
"This award is designed to celebrate and support the good work that schools and youth groups are already doing for conservation. The application form is easy to complete and the prize provides resources to extend these these projects," said Sally Carson, Education Advisor for Otago Peninsula Trust.
The Toroa Award will be presented at the Otago Conservation Awards on 4 November during Conservation Week (1-9 November). Winners receive $500 to put towards plants, equipment or other material required for their conservation project. The Department of Conservation will also send a Ranger to the school or youth group of the three finalists to help with further development of their conservation projects.
Anyone can nominate a school, class, youth group or student for the award. Nominations close Wednesday 22 October. Nomination forms can be downloaded from www.school.albatross.org.nz or www.doc.govt.nz/toroaaward and can be submitted electronically, by email or post.
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