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The Department of Conservation and New Zealand Nature Fund are partnering to save endangered species by matching investment to projects.
The partnership creates opportunities for donors and philanthropists to support high priority conservation projects which are selected and delivered by DOC, with NZ Nature Fund raising and managing funds.
Donors can choose to support projects to save the Alborn skink, limestone ecosystems or tara iti/New Zealand fairy tern, through a nature prospectus launched today.
DOC deputy director-general of public affairs Sia Aston says they created the prospectus to accelerate work on threatened species and ecosystems, and the NZ Nature Fund can expertly attract investment to these projects.
“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.
“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.
“By partnering with NZ Nature Fund, we’re creating an innovative way for others to invest in critical conservation work and help secure the future of these special plants and animals, through the NZ Nature Fund and DOC websites.
“Anyone can donate, and this partnership makes it easy to do.
“We are launching three initial projects – to help protect Aotearoa’s rarest bird, tara iti/New Zealand fairy tern, the highly threatened Alborn skink and a rare limestone plant ecosystem in the Waitaki valley.”
Founding trustee of New Zealand Nature Fund and a former Conservation Minister, Denis Marshall, says the partnership with DOC opens up 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 which will extend and accelerate crucial conservation work.
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 includes creation of new safe breeding sites, predator control and surveys to understand how this coastal bird uses the Kaipara Harbour over winter.
Alborn skink is threatened by mice and other predators, and with a population of just 40-100 individuals, 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 the skink’s only known population and safeguard its future.
A groundbreaking project to restore the mauri (life force) of a rare limestone ecosystem in Wai o Toura Scenic Reserve in the Waitaki valley will save critically endangered limestone plants and reset the ecosystem to be self-sustaining.
This 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. It will create a blueprint to restore threatened limestone ecosystems in other areas.
DOC and NZ Nature Fund will work together to raise awareness about these projects over coming months and test donor interest and donation systems before adding further projects in 2025.
