For the last seven years, Kiwi Coast Trust has been supporting grassroots pest control and kiwi recovery projects in Northland.
Kiwi Coast is a community-led, collaborative initiative, linking over 159 conservation projects made up of iwi, hapu, land owners, farmers, forestry companies, schools and government agencies, united by the vision to create New Zealand’s first kiwi-safe corridor along the eastern coastline of Northland. Through the connection of these projects, Northland kiwi numbers are on the rise, and the biodiversity of the region is noticeably improving.
Built on a foundation of twenty years of community-led conservation, Kiwi Coast offers capacity building and logistical support to Northland communities, underpinned by a mission for all Northlanders to practice kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of the environment. By developing the capability of Northland’s conservation projects, the Trust hopes to sustain the current upward trend of kiwi populations and help them to thrive for generations to come.
Last year, Kiwi Coast Trust was awarded a grant of $478,000 over two years to support a number of their key projects including community training workshops, kiwi events and trapper mentoring, with the end goal of sustaining and enabling community-led pest control for kiwi recovery.
"Foundation North’s funding is going to make a huge difference to the work people are doing here at the Kiwi Coast. It helps us provide training workshops for people who want to get involved in trapping, it helps us support the community kiwi releases where 200-300 people might turn up to see a precious kiwi released into a predator controlled area, it helps us to keep boosting and supporting the work that’s been going on in Northland for over 20 years – and just sustain it, and keep it going. Because we can’t stop now – things are going at such a great rate."
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