A Bird's Eye View of Forest and Bird

Forest and Bird, Issue 313, 1 August 2004, Page 2

A Bird's Eye View of Forest and Bird

Deputy President

—PETER MADDISON

hilst attending the BirdLife Partnership Meeting in Durban, I was asked on several occasions to explain how Forest and Bird is structured. On returning, I discussed this with a number of people and believe it would be useful to explain this to members as well. Doing so will highlight some of the people within the ‘central office’ — the staff who keep the wheels of the Society so well oiled. So here goes.... Membership of Forest and Bird is organised into 54 geographically-based Branches so that the whole country is covered. Branches deal with conservation issues within their areas; they organise field excursions and meetings on a range of subjects; and make submissions and other contributions to local, regional and national legislation — to district and regional plans, resource consent applications, park management plans and on a host of other issues. Some of these branches have their own Sections set up to encompass communities and deal with local issues in discrete areas. Branches nominate one (or two in branches with large membership) Councillor(s) to represent them on the National Council of the Society. This Council is responsible for development and approval of the Society’s policy. It meets twice a year. Both informally and through workshops and meetings, delegates discuss a range of issues and forward remits for work to be undertaken by the Society’s staff. The Council elects an Executive Committee (President, Deputy President, Treasurer and up to 10 members) responsible for the governance and supervision of the business of the Society, and reporting back to the Council at its bi-annual meetings.

Forest and Bird now has 16 staff members. These are arranged into an administration team, with Niki Francis as general manager, and a conservation team, with Kevin Hackwell as conservation manager. Space does not permit me to feature the whole staff here, but I hope the following three profiles will start a process of recognising the contribution these staff make to the Society — my apologies to those who missed out but I hope to introduce others in future journals. Sarah Crawford is our membership database administrator — Sarah deals with all the routine work of subscription renewal and donations and producing monthly branch membership statistics and the annual Society directory. Sarah says, ‘...there are a lot of things I enjoy about the job. The sheer size and complexity of membership and the database mean that the job is constantly challenging and stimulating.... I really enjoy the contact with the branches and with the members... I also really enjoy working for an organisation which is contributing something really positive to society and which is so far-reaching in its goals.’ Geoff Keey has two roles. He works as a communications officer, assisting other staff to get conservation stories into the media and helping to ensure that Forest and Bird’s voice is heard by decisionmakers. He is also the biosecurity awareness officer, promoting better protection for our native plants and animals from exotic pests and diseases. His biosecurity work varies from making submissions on trade negotiations, to campaigning for better border biosecurity, and promoting increased protection of our biodiversity from the devastation

wrought by rats, stoats and possums. Geoff says: ‘I get really excited when I see members talking about conservation in the media...Our public profile is very important and the more we do to build a positive public profile for Forest and Bird, the more we build support for conservation in New Zealand. In his spare time, Geoff can be found tramping in our mountains or paddling on Wellington Harbour. Tracy Hinton is our assistant accountant dealing with the routine financial side of things — paying invoices, wages and capitation payments to branches, filing IRD returns and completing the Year End financial accounts. This includes looking after the Threatened Species accounts. She also looks after the Society’s Ruapehu Lodge — taking bookings and arranging for maintenance of the Lodge. Tracy says ‘Although I enjoy doing accounts, Ruapehu Lodge gives me a good variety and makes sure my job doesn’t get too monotonous. Part of Tracy’s spare time is spent sharing her husband’s hobby of miniature trains. In finishing, I would like to include a vote of thanks to Coralie Urwin, who has undertaken a range of administrative tasks as assistant to our General Manager, including the organisation of the Council meetings and work developing the website. She is leaving Forest and Bird to pursue her work interest in website administration — thank you Coralie. And welcome to Janice Baxendale, who has extensive experience as a personal assistant in the creative arts sector, and enjoys working with Forest and Bird as an organisation with a cause.