New Foundation to Help National Parks and Conservation

Forest and Bird, Issue 299, 1 February 2001, Page 10

New Foundation to Help National Parks and Conservation

—Alison Corich

charitable trust set up by a former Minister of Conservation, Hon. Denis Marshall, is aiming to raise at least $2 million to establish an endowment fund supporting New Zealand conservation programmes. The National Parks and Conservation Foundation has already raised more than a quarter of a million dollars and begun allocating grants to various conservation projects, including a project undertaken by a Forest and Bird branch. The foundation was set up last year as a fundraiser and grants administrator. It is modelled on similar organisations in the United States and Australia. Trustees are Denis Marshall; Murray McKee, formerly a conservation board chair and member of the Conservation Authority and currently a member of the Tongariro/Taupo Conservation Board; Jim Guthrie, lawyer and a former chair of the New Zealand Conservation Authority; and Dick Hubbard, businessman.

Denis Marshall says the foundation has been set up to provide an independent, apolitical mechanism for the corporate sector and individuals to invest in New Zealand’s conservation cause. "The National Parks and Conservation Foundation will be complementary to organisations such as Forest and Bird. It is not a membership or advocacy organisation and does not aim to compete with other conservation organisations in this way. ‘We are not fundraising to replace government funding of conservation. However I am acutely aware that governments will never be able to fund everything that can and needs to be done for conservation in New Zealand. ‘The foundation provides an independent mechanism for the private sector to invest in conservation through sponsorship, donations, and marketing ventures, he says. It aims to align itself with a number of corporate supporters

to establish an endowment fund from which annual grants can be made to community conservation projects. ‘We are focussing particularly on funding particularly community conservation projects and those that give "added value" to things already being done; Mr Marshall said. Several conservation projects have already been allocated funding by the foundation through a sponsorship from Transpower. These include mistletoe restoration in Tongariro, grants to the Little Barrier Island Supporters’ Trust and Rangitikei Forest and Bird for weed control projects, a grant to the Limestone Island Restoration Committee and funding for the first stage of a buff weka translocation project in Wanaka. The foundation’s fundraising was kick-started by a generous donation by the Foundation’s patron and Fiordland Travel founder Les Hutchins, who has formerly served on the National Parks and Reserves Authority and the Conservation Authority. Other corporate supporters have also joined to help establish the endowment fund,

including Fujitsu New Zealand. The Director-General of Conservation, Hugh Logan, says he is delighted with the establishment of the foundation and its success to date. ‘Internationally these foundations have raised significant amounts of money and they have been able to make a real difference to conservation outcomes. ‘All the early indications are that this foundation can and will significantly assist the conservation effort in New Zealand. It will sit alonside the project-specific "sponsored" work of the sort overseen by the Threatened Species Trust, (a partnership involving the department, Forest and Bird, and sponsoring companies). ‘The foundation will provide another funding option for the many important community conservation projects being undertaken around the country. The expertise and knowledge of the trustees in the conservation, political and business environments will ensure the foundation is seen as a credible and important asset to conservation in New Zealand, Hugh Logan says.