Meeting The Minister Of Conservation

We've been working on the structure of the conservation fund. One of the important attributes of the fund is that it needs charitable status. There's lots of reasons for this - many people and organisations feel more comfortable giving to such an institution, and there are seriously good tax breaks for those that do donate (they get 33% back, to the limit of annual income - how good is that??!)

So we went to one of the best in the business at starting up charitable trusts. Neil Thorsen, of Thorsen Gempton Consulting, was a key figure in the inital establishment of the Karori Sanctuary (now Zealandia) and the Wellington Region Community Foundation (now Nikau Foundation) as well as managing many large bequests and other trusts.He also happens to be Mike's father, and it was his comment many years ago that "it would be easy to set up a $1 million conservation trust" that was part of the impetus behind the beginning of this conservation foundation. He was enthusiastic about the idea. Very enthusiastic. So enthusiastic that he talked with various business interests about the conservation foundation during his holiday in Nelson!!

So now we have the beginnings of our charitable trust - more about this soon.

If we're serious in our target of $20m it means gaining serious political and financial support. So we went to our local MP, Tony Ryall. His comment that sums it all up was "why hasn't anyone done this before now?". He was also surprised that for some species as little as $500 could make a difference to their security. He was very supportive and we got through a lot in our 15 minute time slot. Tony is now organising for us to meet the Minister of Conservation and the Minister of the Environment to pitch our idea. We also plan on tapping them for some money - but they don't know that yet!

Neil Thorsen (left) discusses with MP Tony Ryall a recent NZ Herald article on New Zeland's 10 most endangered species (click here for article)

An Idea Becomes?

We would like to see what support people have for an idea...

In New Zealand the number of species considered by the Department of Conservation as at risk from extinction increased by nearly 200 over the past five years. There are now nearly 4,000 plants, birds, insects, fish, mammals, reptiles, lichens, fungi, etc at risk of extinction in New Zealand. 

Of these 4,000, over 800 species are in imminent danger. The Department of Conservation has only enough resources to actively manage (to varying degrees) just a 1/4 of these. Other organisations and individuals play a critical role in the conservation of some of the others.

There are not enough resources (primarily money) to address the problem.

So here's the idea: Create a $20 million NZ conservation fund

Simple really. But how?

This is where you come in. We need evidence of support that we can take to those in power and those that hold the purse strings that people really like this idea. We need LOTS of evidence.

Visit this blog, comment on it, add your views - and get your friends to do the same!

On this blog we'll post ideas and news on the progress that is made. We'll also post articles on New Zealand's endangered species and the people who are dedicated to their survival and any other interesting and useful bits we come across.

What do you think?

The black robin. An example of what can be done. Once only five birds existed, now the population is limited by space to just under 200 birds