Regional Council Chair thanks volunteers

5 December 2014

Today is International Volunteer Day and Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chairman Doug Leeder said that Bay of Plenty volunteers are making an invaluable contribution to their local communities.

“Regional Council staff have had the privilege of working with at least 2300 volunteers over the past year. Together we’re making a real difference. On behalf of Council and the community, thank you to everyone that’s doing their bit, in their own way, to make the Bay of Plenty the beautiful place that it is,” he said.

The volunteers have been involved in a range of projects throughout the region and in the past year have collectively given more than 26,500 hours of their time to activities such as fencing, planting, plant and animal pest control, building visitor facilities, bird monitoring, litter collection, mangrove management, sign installation and promoting safe boating.

“Through our combined efforts in the past year; 106 ecological sites, 188.8km of waterway margins and 1449 hectares of highly erodible land has been protected. More than 100 tonnes of rubbish has been collected and many, many thousands of native plants have been planted and cared for,” Chairman Leeder said.

Chairman Leeder also said that Bay of Plenty Regional Council supports volunteers through its Enviroschools, Care Group, Coast Care, Estuary Care, Harbour Warden, Biodiversity Management and Riparian Management programmes, and the Environmental Enhancement Fund.

Volunteering New Zealand leads promotion of International Volunteer Day in New Zealand. The theme this year is “Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai – By many, by thousands, the work will be accomplished.”

Further information about Bay of Plenty Regional Council volunteer work is available at www.boprc.govt.nz/volunteers. Information about International Volunteer Day is available at www.volunteeringnz.org.nz

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