We have been asked for a way to be a member, a supporter or an annual donor, and we have now come up with a means of joining us to ensure that penguins survive and thrive on the West Coast.
For a minimum donation of just $50 a year you’ll become a Supporter, or, for a one-off donation of $500, a Supporter for Life.
Supporting us in this way directly ensures that our research and practical projects to protect penguins and their habitat continue.
Through our monitoring of blue penguins and tawaki, we are constantly learning about threats to their survival so that we can take and promote the best possible practical solutions. For example the penguin protection fence project was in response to knowledge gained from monitoring blue penguins and maintaining our mortality database over several years and we’ll be launching a new coastal wildlife and dog control awareness campaign soon based on clear evidence we have collected. In addition, we have gained invaluable knowledge of the threat posed by stoats to tawaki and we’ll be developing that understanding over the coming breeding season to better inform conservation management actions for this species.
Becoming a Supporter means not only that you’ll be helping us take the lead on penguin conservation, but one lucky Supporter will win something very special in an annual draw.
For the first year, our Patron, Craig Potton MNZM, has kindly donated a stunning framed print of one of his beautiful photographs. This one is entitled ‘Blue Lake II’ and we’ll make the draw and give this gorgeous print away when we have thirty new Supporters, so don’t delay!
We know not everyone will be in the position of being able to support us in this way, and we will continue to value and cherish your support in any way, for example promoting us and promoting, leading and encouraging penguin friendly behaviour, and of course donations if and when you can.
We have a small number of regular donors who will automatically become Supporters and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude, sticking with us through the tough times of the past three months.
Three precious Life Members who joined a few years ago will automatically be our first three Supporters for Life!
We know you are all already supporters of the Trust and our work, and now you can formalise that with a regular donation. We need your help more than ever, as grants and donations from other Trusts are increasingly hard to come by. Regular donations are the lifeblood of a Trust like ours and we’re appealing to you to start one today.
Please choose either a simple annual donation of $50 here, or any amount fortnightly, monthly or annually here, or become a Supporter for Life here.
We’ll offer a new reward each year for all our existing and new Supporters, and of course keep you in touch with all our news.
We look forward to welcoming you as a Trust Supporter. Thank you.
While materials were chosen that would stand up to the harsh coastal conditions, those same coastal conditions are conducive to plant growth! Occasional checks of the fences have been carried out by volunteers and rangers so that any maintenance needs can be identified and remedied. The never-ending need for maintenance is managing the vegetation that can grow through the fence, for example gorse, blackberry and hydrangea, pushing it to breaking point in places, or flop over causing damage from the weight of rank grass, rushes and weeds such as montbretia.
Volunteers recently spent a few hours tidying up the main fence along Woodpecker Bay north of Punakaiki so a big shout out to them - thank you Fiona, Jony, Reef, Katrina, Mandy, Marty, Teresa and Deb! Flax had been pressing down on the fence, but now the fence has been freed up by these wonderful volunteers - and they picked up a fair bit of rubbish too.
Volunteer Natassja Savidge has offered to check and help maintain the Hokitika penguin protection fence and joined Ranger Lucy Waller and Manager Inger Perkins in May to inspect the length of the fence. Some minor issues were found but the main finding was the extent of the vegetation growth that was damaging the fence in places. Big thanks to Natassja!
