The Forest Bridge Trust – Stronger together

Since joining The Forest Bridge Trust I’ve been fortunate to meet many conservation-minded local landowners; individuals and families who have a vision for restoration to create flourishing protected environments for the native taonga in their rohe. It’s a joy to see so many people keen to increase the abundance of our native flora and fauna, and joining with neighbourhood predator control to protect both from introduced pests.

Our team is fortunate to be able to support the conservation aspirations of local landowners thanks to our generous local donors, partnerships with other local conservation groups like Save the Kiwi and Kaipara Moana Remediation Project (KMR). These allow us to provide advice, tools and training for predator control, and advice on securing funding for fencing and riparian planting through our fencing team.

Recently, some of our team and trustees were honored to be invited to meet the Clayton family to learn about the wonderful conservation work they are undertaking on their Kaipara Hills property. This inspirational couple has a long-term vision of regeneration, and with the help of The Forest Bridge Trust fencing team, they have secured funding from KMR to help them to put in 5.1 kilometres of new fencing, protecting their waterways and wetlands that feed into the Kaipara Harbour – reducing erosion and sediment and creating new habitats.

We asked Hayley and Geoff to share their vision for their piece of paradise with us. They told us that since purchasing the farm in October 2021, they had thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the wonderful Kaipara Flats community and understanding their land better.

“Our hope is to grow, protect and preserve a native forest and waterway for our community, children and grandchildren – a place to study, learn and explore,” they said. “We specifically looked for a farm that was marginal in order to return it in parts back to what it would’ve been prior to being cleared, and this fitted the bill perfectly. We have wonderful pockets of native bush, a tributary to the Mangatu stream and very steep drop-offs, which have all lent themselves to working with The Forest Bridge Trust in getting fenced and protected. We are very early in our journey up here in the hills, but we absolutely love it and are very much looking forward to seeing our slice of paradise transform in the years to come.”

Everyone left the Claytons’ home energised and inspired to reach more local landowners within our rohe, to support them and their communities with their conservation goals. If you live within our ‘bridge’ and would like advice on predator control, riparian planting or fencing, please contact tris@theforestbridgetrust.org.nz. Or to connect with others doing the mahi in your community, we invite you to join the facebook discussion page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/260466802116920