Kākāpō to reap fundraising benefits

Date:  28 August 2015

A two month-long international crowdfunding campaign, run by Australian couple James and Janet Luxton, has raised $32,700 for Kākāpō Recovery, with donations coming in from around the globe.

The couple also donated gifts to qualifying donors, including ringtones, calico bags and limited edition prints of a kākāpō artwork painted by Janet Luxton.

And earlier this month, Real Journey's hosted a charity ball at Walter Peak, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Proceeds from ticket sales and auctions on the night returned more than $36,000 for kākāpō.

Conservation Services manager kākāpō/takahē Deidre Vercoe said the generosity of others would make a significant difference to the recovery programme as the team began preparing for a bumper breeding season this summer.

"If the spring weather is kind to us, we could potentially have more than 25 chicks added to the current population of 125 kākāpō. Such a significant breeding event requires a lot of resources, so this funding boost is particularly timely."

Conservation in partnership

Kākāpō Recovery was established as a partnership between DOC, New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) and Forest & Bird. First signed 25 years ago, the agreement is DOC's longest running conservation partnership.

As principal sponsor NZAS has already injected more than $4.5 million towards breeding programmes, predator free sanctuaries and innovative research, plus more than 1,100 days of employee volunteer support carrying out maintenance work, supplementary feeding and nest minding.

When the partnership began there were only 49 kākāpō remaining.

Kākāpō Recovery's long term goal is to have 150 females at three separate sites, one of which is self-sustaining.

For more information visit the Kākāpō Recovery website.

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