Transpower Grants Announced

The 2007 Transpower Grants were announced this week with projects based around species and predator control receiving $60,000 in funding.

In a surprise twist a father and daughter also uncovered that they had been competing against each other - the upside for family relations being that both were successful.

Amy Whitehead from Canterbury University

Amy Whitehead from Canterbury University receives her cheque for $10,000 from Transpower's Rebecca Wilson to further her research into blue duck

gained $10,000 towards her research into the preferred habitat of remnant populations of blue duck. Her father John Whitehead, who is chairman of the Pomona Island Charitable Trust, also gained $9,000 towards pest eradication prior to the intended reintroduction of native species such as saddleback, yellowhead, kaka and others. 

Pomona Island was one of two pest eradication projects to receive a grant. The second is a great spotted kiwi crèche programme being run by the New Zealand Conservation Trust based at Willowbank in

Kathy Rangiwananga from the New Zealand Conservation Trust receiving a cheque from Rebecca Wilson from Transpower

Christchurch.

Jane Arnott from New Zealand National Parks and Conservation Foundation who manages the Grant process, says more and more New Zealanders are demonstrating their concern for endangered species and actively getting involved which is reflected by the number of applicants who are developing projects to return endemic species to their local area.

 

Other Grant recipients included:

• Central Otago's Ecological Trust with their plans for constructing a lizard breeding facility as part of a broader effort to prevent the extinction of Otago wild skink
• a monitoring programme for juvenile kaka in the Whirinaki Forest Park in the DOC Rangitikei Conservancy
• monitoring of North Island Brown Kiwi recently released in the Tarawhenui Open Sanctuary,
• the Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust which is endorsed by the DOC Stratford Area Office
• the Pukawa Wildlife Management group representing a number of retired residents wishing to restore an area of native bush co-managed by the Taupo District Council and DOC

Transpower's communications manager Rebecca Wilson said that Transpower continued to take its environmental responsibility seriously.