Source: New Zealand Government
Conservation efforts in Coromandel and Hauraki are getting a much needed helping hand thanks to DOC’s Community Conservation Fund, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage in the Kauaeranga Valley today.
“Our natural environment is important to New Zealanders, and everyone has a role to play in protecting it. We need to go further and faster to restore the dawn chorus, ensure healthy biodiversity in our waterways, and protect our native bush so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy our unique landscapes too” said Eugenie Sage.
“$200,000 from the 2019 funding round is supporting seven local organisations to do predator control, planting to restore wetlands at Pūkorokoro, Miranda and riparian planting on the Waitakaruru river, near Thames. The Community Conservation fund 2020 round opens this week with $5.6million available to support community conservation projects nationwide.
The announcement was made during the Minister’s two-day visit to the Coromandel-Hauraki area, where she met with Department of Conservation staff, iwi, stakeholders and community representatives.
“It has been a privilege to see first-hand the work our iwi and community conservation groups are doing, and the benefits for nature in the Coromandel and Hauraki region.
The Coromandel and Hauraki groups to receive recent grants from the DOC Community Fund are:
· Whenuakite Kiwi Care
· Parawai School
· Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists Fund
· Mahakirau Forest Estate Society
· Moehau Environment Group
· Western Firth Catchment Group Trust
· Opoutere Residents and Ratepayers
“DOC staff will work closely with these groups over the coming years to support them and their conservation projects,” Eugenie Sage said
The visit to the Coromandel and meeting with the community group comes as DOC invites applications for the 2020 Community Conservation Funding round.
$4.6m is available for community-led conservation projects on public and private land, with an additional $1m available for community conservation hubs. Applications can be made electronically, and more information is available at the DOC website. The 2020 funding round opened on Monday 24 February.
