The push to restore New Zealand's waterways will be boosted over the next three years by $180,000 in funding to the Million Metres Streams Project from the Department of Conservation. The Community Conversation Partnership Fund, a DOC fund that supports community-led conservation, will partner with Million Metres to help to speed up the planting of native species along New Zealand's waterways.
The Million Metres Streams Project is a non-profit organization launched in October 2014 by the Sustainable Business Network that aims to restore the waterways of New Zealand. Million Metres is New Zealand's first conservation crowdfunding website. The website allows individuals an community and corporate groups to raise money and donate to the restoration initiative.
Million Metres raised more than $125,000 in its first year, enough to pay for 6000 metres of stream planting around New Zealand. Three projects were planted this winter, bringing the total to 4300 trees planted.
Rachel Brown, CEO of the Sustainable Business Network, says "The support from DOC is a game changer for Million Metres. It means we can focus on scale and really speed up the restoration effort." Brown also says Million Metres hopes this project will further cultivate a partnership with the Department of Conservation.
Due to intensive farming and forestry, New Zealand's waterways have become very polluted. Million Metres focuses on riparian planting as a solution, the replanting on the banks of streams, rivers, and lakes. Planting around waterways helps filter contamination and prevents erosion while also providing habitat for native species.
