Hon Eugenie Sage
Minister of Conservation
15 December 2017
Support for Cape Foulwind conservation
A project to protect native species and enhance the landscape of Cape Foulwind in Buller will be boosted by support from
the DOC Community Fund, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced.
In Westport today Ms Sage met with the Buller Conservation Volunteers group to officially announce they have received a
$34,500 grant from the DOC Community Fund for a project based at Tauranga Bay.
With native replanting, predator and weed control, the Tauranga Koko Mātārae Project seeks to restore the bay’s northern
headland to how it would have looked when first seen by Captain Cook and his crew in 1770.
“Through this new funding the group will be able to continue with their revegetation and weed control programme and work
towards their aim of making the headland predator free with a network of 40 traps,” Ms Sage says.
“Blue penguins, western weka and sooty shearwaters will be encouraged to nest at the site, with plans to reintroduce
skinks and geckoes. A boardwalk will be built for easier access over the wetlands. It will provide additional protection
for the Charleston gentian, a nationally critical threatened plant, once reduced to fewer than 40 specimens in the
wild.”
The project will also complement the experience on the Cape Foulwind Walkway, one of DOC’s Great Short Walks, which
passes through Tauranga Bay.
“The Buller Conservation Volunteers are a dedicated small group who have been meeting every second Tuesday for over a
decade and undertaken several other projects on conservation land in the Buller District with support from DOC,” Ms Sage
says.
“I welcome their and other New Zealanders’ efforts to protect our native plants and wildlife and the places they live.
Such community initiatives are vital for conservation.”
This latest DOC Community Fund funding round has granted 112 conservation groups around the country a total of $4.215
million. For a full list of funded projects, visit http://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/funding/doc-community-fund/successful-applications-2017/.
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