The Soar Initiative provides support at a national, local and individual level to help New Zealand’s nature soar ahead...
Since 2009 Project Island Song has been building a pest-free sanctuary across the islands of Ipipiri in the eastern Bay of Islands. Thanks to their work rare and endangered flora and fauna are flourishing once again.
Project Island Song is a partnership between mana whenua and the local community who work in collaboration to establish a safe haven in which reintroduced species can thrive. Tens of thousands of trees have been planted and there have been seven major species translocations to date, including the colourful kākāriki and tuneful tieke. With at least fourteen more reintroductions planned, the vision of an Ipipiri resounding with bird calls is increasingly close to fruition.
Our donation from the Soar Initiative is supporting the reintroduction of the Northland green gecko. According to Project Island Song “the stunning but inconspicuous Northland green gecko, once plentiful in our forests, is now on a quiet track to oblivion. The pest-free islands offer a unique safe haven to help protect their future.” Topflite is proud to assist in reversing the decline of this taonga species and supporting the committed team behind this important work.
The Ōamaru Blue Penguin Colony is tasked with the protection and conservation of our local kororā. They conduct long-term monitoring, research and public education programmes to support the regeneration of these little southern battlers.
Nestled in a former rock quarry, the colony is home to around 200 breeding pairs of kororā who return to breed, moult and nest. The team here does weekly checks on nesting sites, runs a rehabilitation facility for injured penguins and employs a full-time scientist to conduct long-term research. Local volunteers protect the penguins’ nesting habitat by building safe nesting boxes and trapping for predators in nearby Bushy Beach.
The Soar Initiative has helped the Ōamaru Blue Penguin Colony purchase a new penguin weighing scale, and we are proud to sponsor a penguin too. We named him “Kahurangi” which in te Reo can mean both ‘blue’ or something that is prized or precious. Is there a more appropriate name? He now has many more kilometres of swimming ahead of him thanks to the rehabilitation work done by the colony’s experts – their work for Kahurangi and his kororā friends vital in protecting the precious birds.
Past SOAR Initiative recipients
The Kākāpō Recovery Programme is run by the Department of Conservation thanks to the combined efforts of scientists, rangers, volunteers and donors.
With just over 200 Kākāpō alive today this work is crucial in protecting the critically endangered native parrot. These nocturnal flightless birds were almost extinct after the introduction of cats, rats, stoats and other predators to NZ.
However since the Kākāpō Recovery Programme began in 1995 this beautiful bird has been pulled back from the edge of extinction. Kākāpō now live on four small predator-free islands, and we’re proud to support the hard work protecting these sanctuaries.
Topflite has been supporting Forest & Bird for over a decade now. We consider their work ‘giving nature a voice’ to be of huge importance to the future of our country and we’re proud to assist these efforts.
Since 1948 Forest & Bird has been helping protect our most precious places and animals.
They’ve helped create and extend a number of national parks, high country parks and marine reserves and campaigned to have Te Wāhipounamu recognised as a World Heritage site. From halting the logging of publicly owned native forests to pest control initiatives, species protection to water conservation to land restoration, they’ve worked hard to speak for the trees, the animals and the future generations ahead.
On the north coast of Dunedin, Orokonui has become a flagship biodiversity project and a leading destination for visitors keen to experience the 307 hectares of protected Coastal Otago forest.
From tuatara to saddleback, takahē to kākāriki to kākā and more, there are some incredible sights to be seen here.
We love what the team at Orokonui are doing and are proud to support their efforts. While they have staff working full time now, volunteers founded the sanctuary – and it’s still reliant on the good work of those helping out with track maintenance, weed control, fence supervision and pest monitoring.