Program Overview
As a volunteer you will be working on a diverse range of conservation projects - this may involve working with project partners or on our own research projects. The volunteer team is based near to Wellington and our program area is largely in the Greater Wellington region. However, several of our projects also provide the opportunities to work in other regions of New Zealand.The volunteer work is typically a combination of direct habitat management and restoration (e.g. predator removal, tree planting and invasive weed removal) and ecological research/monitoring (e.g. marine mammal surveys, bird surveys and stream ecology projects). Some of the work we undertake is seasonal and weather dependant.
Examples of projects we are currently involved with include:
- Replanting native forests (on the mainland and also on off-shore islands)-winter only
- Monitoring native birds to examine the efficacy of predator control
- Stream quality monitoring as part of a regional stream health project
- Restoring degraded dune ecosystems
- Removing pest plants from several native ecosystems (e.g. dunes, forests, off- shore islands)
- Predator control within native forests in Wellington and the Coromandel
- Trail construction and park maintenance within wildlife reserves
Today I found out that we will be leaving for the Coromandel project on my third day there. Coromandel is on the completely opposite side of the island, north of Wellington (I've added it to the map). This will involve an 8 hour drive through the country side with several stops along the way. At first I was annoyed to hear this since I would be landing in the north part of the island near Coromandel when I first arrive and then taking another plane to Wellington...only to return by car a couple days later! Seems like such a waste. But the program director reassured me that it was a beautiful drive and that I would enjoy it. I sure hope it's a lot more interesting than an 8 hour drive across Texas!
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