Donations will help the Seabird Trust to work for conservation of our treasured seabird taonga in many ways - from funding individual projects, to buying equipment, to education and mentoring, and contracting some of our talented young scientists to lead research projects.   

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Equipment

Seabird research is equipment hungry! Remote cameras, audio recorders, burrowscopes, night vision gear, playback ‘game’ callers, various tracking devices are some of the tools we use on offshore islands in studying seabirds. And island life is tough, especially for sensitive equipment remaining in the field for weeks, even months on end. But the results we get from all this gear has been amazing. Funding is required to maintain existing equipment, buy new devices and accessories.

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Youth mentoring

We are initiating a youth mentoring programme, developed around our field work, providing background to the world of seabirds and island ecology, and covering some of the analytical research involved and relevancy to conservation management. Through this programme we aim to be working with iwi to provide seabird biodiversity training for school leavers and secondary school students.    

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Valuing our young scientists

Our universities are producing remarkable young scientists. An enormous amount of research is needed in this country for conservation, but the resources are lacking to fulfil this. Many of our best graduates are heading overseas to find work. The Seabird Trust, by working collaboratively with government agencies, the universities and industry, can identify the projects that will deliver innovative conservation strategies. This is research that underpins restoration work, and inform species management and marine planning. We need to support scientists to lead innovative projects and provide funding for student research at Masters and PhD levels.

 

 

 

 

 

Aotearoa New Zealand’s first bird observatory

We are working with Maritime New Zealand to upgrade and maintain their house on Burgess Island, Mokohinau Islands, outer Hauraki Gulf. The house was originally built to accommodate maintenance crews working on the lighthouse. In recent years, conservation workers and seabird researchers have been the major beneficiaries of this facility. Since 2005 we have used the house as research station - breeding seabirds are literally at the doorstep!  This facility needs ongoing maintenance to provide a secure and comfortable work environment.