Media release August 16, 2010
 
WWF's Habitat Protection Fund celebrates a decade of community-led conservation
 
This year marks the tenth anniversary of WWF's unique Habitat Protection Fund which has partnered with over 200 community groups across New Zealand to invest over $2.5 million in grassroots conservation.
 
WWF-New Zealand established the Habitat Protection Fund in 2000 in partnership with The Tindall Foundation, and since launch has partnered with volunteer groups on over 400 projects to protect areas of high conservation significance in their communities.
 
Just this week, WWF has joined forces with another 18 communities to protect and conserve nature in their own backyards; projects as diverse as dune restoration near Whanganui, the reintroduction of grey-faced petrels back onto a mainland reserve near Gisborne, and pest and weed control on a braided river in the South Island.
 
Over the last ten years, WWF estimates that all of the projects combined have contributed more than 5 million volunteer hours to conservation .
 
Marc Slade, WWF-New Zealand's Terrestrial Conservation Programme Manager, is encouraged by the number and diverse range of groups applying for the Habitat Protection Fund; "It is inspiring to see such strong enthusiasm from Kiwis to protect nature in their own backyards and we are thrilled to support them in achieving their conservation goals. Biodiversity is in significant decline both globally and locally to such an extent that the UN has declared this year to be the International Year of Biodiversity with the goal of safeguarding nature and reducing biodiversity loss. Communities across the country play a vital role in helping to protect and restore New Zealand's cherished landscapes," says Slade. "There is a great opportunity for the Government to fund volunteer groups committed to protecting our threatened ecosystems and the species that call them home."
 
Whaingaroa Harbour Care was amongst the first projects to receive WWF funding to clean up its harbour - the regeneration not only of Raglan's local environment but of the local economy has been heralded as a community led conservation victory.
 
As part of the Whaingaroa Catchment Management Project, this project has been described as the first formal attempt in New Zealand to establish community-based, integrated catchment  management. Since 1995, the community has worked to restore the Whaingaroa harbour, planting over one million native trees along streams and harbour edges within the Whaingaroa catchment, located to the west of Hamilton. This has led to a healthier fish stock and increased recreation opportunities.
 
It's a story that one of the latest recipients of the fund, the Papawai Community Trust, could well be repeating. A Marae based group, the Papawai Stream Care is one of 18 recipients of the Fund's most recent funding round. The Marae is working with its local community to restore the mauri - or life-force - of the Papawai Stream, protecting it from nutrient runoff from surrounding farmland. The project seeks to improve the stream's water quality and biodiversity values by clearing it of invasive weeds and exotic tree species and planting native riparian vegetation along the banks. Local Greytown schools are amongst the volunteers who have planted and grown trees alongside the stream.
 
Papawai Community Trust chairman, Peter Rewi, said the project has seen rich life return to the stream, including fish. "We have even seen the return of eels to the stream as a result of the stream restoration," Rewi said the donation recently received from WWF-New Zealand's Habitat Protection Fund will go toward clearing willow trees from the area and planting native vegetation along the stream flowing behind the marae.
 
The Habitat Protection Fund has two funding rounds each year. If you would like to apply for funding for a local conservation project, please visit www.wwf.org.nz  to find out more.
 
ENDS

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