17 May 2017

New programme launched to inspire conservation volunteers

Conservation Volunteers New Zealand is teaming up with the Department of Conservation to inspire more volunteers to get involved with practical on the ground work to help with the recovery of our threatened species.

The ‘Wild Futures’ programme has been officially launched at an event in Zealandia in Wellington today.

“The partnership will initially encourage volunteers to focus on six threatened species; kokako, kaka, longfin eel/tuna kuwharuwharu, little blue penguin/kororā, westland petrel/tāiko, New Zealand sea lion/rāpoka,” says Aaron Jaggar, General Manager of Conservation Volunteers NZ.

“Activities will centre around practical actions that will support the recovery of these species including habitat restoration, predator control, monitoring, building nesting boxes and educational campaigns.”

“New Zealand has one of the highest rates of species loss in the world. We aim to bring resources and volunteers together to make a real difference to a place, or a species – to enable them to survive and thrive,” says Mr Jaggar.

DOC’s Threatened Species Ambassador Nicola Toki, who helped launch the programme says DOC is helping to support the initiative by providing technical and scientific expertise.

“We are excited by this partnership because it is evidence based and will involve work that really benefits these species. Connecting more people to nature in this way will help create lasting, positive changes to our most vulnerable wildlife,” Nic Toki says.

“Partnerships such as this one, are vital because, as outlined in our recently launched draft Threatened Species Strategy, protecting our threatened species is a fight that DOC and other government agencies can’t win alone.”

Conservation Volunteers New Zealand invites those who share our vision to build a sustainable future for a threatened species to support our community initiatives.

They can also help New Zealand’s threatened species have a Wild Future by joining us a partner, volunteer or as a corporate group or by making a financial contribution to help us build our capacity to achieve Wild Futures priorities.

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