Making Christmas count

Want to see seabirds and kākā back on Karioi or give our kids a chance to join our educational programs? In the spirit of the festive season, the Karioi Project team are appealing to locals to choose the Karioi Project as a worthwhile cause to support.

“Think of it as a Christmas present to the birds,” says founder Kristel Van Houte.

 “We couldn’t run without the support of our funders, some who live locally and witness first-hand how much of a difference it makes for our native birds and trees.” 

Aiming to restore biodiversity from the mountain to the sea, Kristel and her team love inspiring the Raglan community to take a stand for nature. 

“Funding goes to protecting the places we love,” she says. “We’ve had such lovely feedback from our donors – one supporter told me how, back in the 1980s, it was such an exciting occasion to spy just one tūī in a summer, and that they had never seen a kērērū at all.

“Thanks to donors like them supporting our predator control and seabird monitoring programmes, we’re now seeing large numbers of tūi and kērērū, not to mention kororā waddling down the beach and vulnerable seabirds - like the ōi - successfully breeding in burrows along the coast.”

While there are many wins to celebrate, the work is not yet complete because Karioi and the surrounding area are not predator-free.

“We can’t do this on our own, and we can’t do this unfunded,” says Kristel.

Donations can be one-off, or as some locals choose to do, monthly, she says. “Getting funding is a hard job when there are so many worthwhile causes out there – but for Raglan residents, I can't imagine a better place to contribute than our own backyard.” 

There are many different ways you can help; from one-offs to regular donations and bequests. It’s easy to do, just click here!