Bay Conservation Alliance offers chance to support nature heroes

Kiwis release at Otanewainuku. Kiwi bird Marama waiting to be released into the wild. 10 January 2016 Bay of Plenty Times- Photograph by George Novak

In the Bay of Plenty, Bay Conservation Alliance (BCA) supports 29 community conservation groups, all with a common purpose: working to protect and restore the environment.

BCA’s role is to connect and support these passionate volunteers, by providing them with resources and funding so they can get on with the real work.

BCA, with guidance from the Generosity Generator, is undertaking its first-ever crowdfunding campaign.

“Our ‘backyard’ is unique, but many ecosystems and species are declining,” BCA chief executive Michelle Elborn said.

“The good news is, together we can make a difference to protect it for future generations.

“Last year alone 3000 volunteers - aka nature heroes - within these groups spent more than 52,000 hours planting 65,000 trees and caught over 8300 pests. What an incredible display of passion, knowledge and skills.”

Elborn said individually, most groups have very limited budgets with no easy funding paths, so they rely on BCA to help them.

“We need your help to raise $10k so we can power up more Nature Hero activities.”

Through previous donations, BCA has already enabled the creation of a new rehabilitation aviary for injured birds, provided monitoring equipment such as bat detectors to measure populations, provided traps for predators, supported planting projects and provided health and safety equipment to keep volunteers safe.

For more visit the BCA website.