Tag Archives: Environment

Could data commons be the the tool kit
for the ambitious goal of making New Zealand
Predator Free by 2050?

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Strategic philanthropy (including NEXT), social bonds, ethical funds management and social enterprise trends
are featured in this report by Chapman Tripp released this week.

Impact investment – trends and insights is a report written
by friend of NEXT Phillippa Wilkie.

NEXT Foundation is one of the investors
in the Te Manahuna Aoraki conservation
project – which will eliminate pests and
predators from the Upper McKenzie Basin
and Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.

NEXT is excited to announce a new environmental investment – we are founding partners in a collaboration restoring the biodiversity in the Upper McKenzie basin and Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, announced today.

NEXT environmental initiative Project Janszoon – which
is restoring the biodiversity in the Abel Tasman National
Park- came in for special attention this week when A list
royals Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan visited the
Park.

Are rats using storm water drains to get around Wellington? That report and more updates in the latest edition of a Predator Free Wellington’s newsletter.

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Waiheke Island has secured funding
to help eradicate rats and stoats from
the island – and a chance to become
the world’s first predator free urban island.

Radio New Zealand filed this report.

Weather and possums – two
of the many challenges Zero
Invasive Predators is facing
removing predators from the mainland –
in a trial at the Perth Valley on the West Coast.

Wellington city is on a mission to become the first
Predator Free City in the world – and no rat is safe-
not even in student flats! A group called Traplordz
has been formed to tackle the rats in students flats-
as this report in Stuff explains.

One hundred Kauri seedlings – from the
iconic Colin McCahon House, have a new home
on NEXT environmental initiative Rotoroa Island.
The seedlings have been planted on the island to
try and save them from the deadly disease Kauri dieback.

“Of all the proposals we’ve seen Wellington is the strongest in terms of community at work,” NEXT advisor and Predator Free 2050 Limited spokesman Rob Fenwick commenting on the $3.2m boost for Predator Free Wellington announced this week.

Predator Free Wellington’s vision to be
the first capital city in the world to be
Predator Free got a boost this week –
to the tune of $3.2million.
Predator Free NZ 2050 Ltd announced
the financial support to the initiative
founded two years ago by NEXT, the
Wellington City Council and the Greater
Wellington Regional Council.

A group of school children from Omaha
School west of New Plymouth are playing
detectives to help the Taranaki Mounga project. They are
trawling through hours of video footage to help
locate where the predators are – so the
Taranaki Mounga team know where
to target their trapping efforts.

NEXT has released a video
showcasing the environmental
initiatives it invests is – as part of its
investment focus on a Predator
Free New Zealand, and healthy rivers.

Watch video

Predator Free NZ 2050 Ltd has announced
funding for Predator Free Hawkes Bay – kick starting with
$1.6million to remove possums from the Mahia Peninsula.

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Philanthropy, arts, science and technology – Kea has published it’s full list
of winners of the 2018 World Class NZ awards – where NEXT founders
Neal and Annette Plowman took out the Supreme Award.

NEXT Founders Neal and Annette Plowman – who are helping fund
the restoration of Abel Tasman National Park – were recognised as
Supreme Winners at the Kea 2018 World Class NZ Awards.

Neal and Annette Plowman are one of New Zealand’s most generous
couples. We chart their philanthropic journey over the past 15 years.

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Wilderness magazine reports on the latest
innovations from NEXT supported Zero Invasive
Predators, and how they are applying new
tools and techniques to eradicating
predators from a test site in Perth
Valley, Westland.

NEXT supported Cacophony Project
reports on some interesting data around the effectiveness of various
backyard traps, and how many predators they are
seeing around a trap for every one caught.

The Cacophony Project is the “Let’s rip
up the script/ use Kiwi No 8 fencing wire ingenuity
to solve a wick problem” approach to New
Zealand becoming Predator Free – according
to this report in Stuff NZ.

PwC NEXT Young Leader
Jacob Weaver
has completed his one year
secondment. He shares his thoughts on
how the experience will shape his career.

A large-scale predator project, the biggest of its kind in New Zealand, was launched in Taranaki today supported by more than $11 million from the Government.
Taranaki aims to be the first predator-free region in the country under the project, called Taranaki Taku Tūranga – Our Place, Towards a Predator-Free Taranaki and is led by the Taranaki Regional Council.

NEXT supported initiative Zero
Invasive Predators is collaborating
with PFNZ 2050 Ltd to undertake a big
challenge on the mainland. The team is about
to start a project removing possums from
the Perth Valley – forever.

Zero Invasive Predators Chief Executive, Al Bramley, shares his insights on the Power of Two – the collaboration
between the Department of Conservation and NEXT
to form ZIP.

Al details the journey of ZIP as it
develops tools and techniques to remove predators
from the mainland – and shares his belief that the PFNZ 2050 will
happen – but it will take the power of many.

Predator Free Community Champion Kelvin Hastie
– who NEXT supported for three years, discusses
the return of native birds in Wellington with Jesse
Mulligan on RNZ.

Read more

The Government has flagged extra
funding for Predator Control in next week’s
budget.

Read More

Taranaki Mounga is coming back to life!
Another 50 toutouwai – the endangered
North Island Robin, have been released
as part of the restoration initiative NEXT supports.

Wellington is aiming to be the first Predator Free
Capital City in the world – and as Newsroom reports,
there are serious signs in the suburbs that backyard
trappers are making a difference.

The Abel Tasman National Park has been given the tick of approval as a home for pāteke, with the population of rare native ducks increasing dramatically.

Read Media Release

Have you heard what’s going on in Wellington?
It’s a sound that is music to the ears of NEXT
Predator Free Community Champion Kelvin Hastie-
the Crofton Downs resident who was a catalyst for a
burgeoning backyard trapping network – and the
inspiration for Predator Free Wellington.

NEXT Foundation is celebrating four years since its launch in 2014 – and now supports sixteen environmental and education initiatives.

Thirteen of those investments have been made since the foundation’s inception – and three are continuing support for projects started before NEXT’s launch.

Department of Conservation rangers and their conservation dogs
Tai and Marti have been conducting their own census – counting
endangered whio ducklings at the NEXT supported environmental
initiative Taranaki Mounga.

Wellington has ramped up its efforts
to become the first Predator Free capital city
in the world – giving it extra priority in the
draft 10 year plan released this week.

A new predator control project is in the pipeline which
could be significant in New Zealand’s ambitous goal to
be Predator Free by 2050. NEXT supported Zero Invasive
Predators is planning an intensive operation near Whataroa – where
the Perth River could act as a natural barrier to keep predators
out – forever.

Tai has been successfully sniffing out whio in Taranaki. He is one of the first Conservation Dogs certified to locate whio in the region and has helped to locate a record number of 64 whio chicks on eight rivers this season.

“The Tomorrow Accord has emerged as a
blueprint for private/public conservation that
is … probably here to stay”. Wilderness
magazine reports on the groundbreaking
agreement between the Government and
NEXT Foundation to ensure environmental
gains are guaranteed by future governments.

The NZ Government has granted the iconic
Taranaki mountain a “legal personality.” The Chairman of
the NEXT supported Taranaki Mounga project; and Chief negotiator
for the Taranaki iwi Jamie Tuuta has described it as “significant to
Maori people nationwide.

Project Janszoon – a NEXT environmental
initiative is celebrating its fifth anniversary.
The project is a collaboration between the
Department of Conservation; The Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust
iwi and community to restore the Abel Tasman National
Park.

Taranaki Mounga, a NEXT supported
environmental initiative restoring
the National Park; has published its
2017 annual report.

Click here to read the report

Project Janszoon; a NEXT supported environmental initiative
restoring Abel Tasman National Park, has
published its 2017 annual report.

Click here to read the report.

For our final newsletter of 2017 we bring you the wisdom of the wonderful
leaders in education and the environment that NEXT supports. We asked them for a short quote or anecdotal story that resonates with them.

Taranaki Mounga is gradually
being brought back to life – He Kawa Ora.
The NEXT supported project is large scale and ambitious –
but all parts of the community are collaborating
to slowly turn the vision
into reality.

The NEXT supported environmental
initiative The Cacophony Project has
made significant gains in developing
heat cameras to help detect predators –
an effective tool in the ambitous
goal towards Predator Free NZ 2050.

Conservationists are celebrating
at NEXT supported environmental
initiative Taranaki Mounga after
three Toutouwai/North Island robin
breeding pairs were discovered with chicks.
It is the first time the species has
bred on the Mounga for 112 years.

NEXT supported environmental
initiative ZIP has had some great
success in a predator eradication
trial in South Westland.
The aim was to rid the area completely
of rats and possums using a modified
method of aerial predator control.

“If any country can pull off an eradication blitzkrieg
New Zealand can..” International recognition for
New Zealand’s ambitious Predator free 2050 goal
in an article in bioGraphic, part of the California
Academy of Science.

NEXT environmental initiative Rotoroa
Island has been praised by visiting filmmaker
and conservationist Philippe Cousteau as being
at “the vanguard of conservation”.
Cousteau – grandson of environmental icon
Jacques Cousteau – was visiting the island
to film a programme for Xploration Station.

In this newsletter – The Cacophony Project reveals developments with a high resolution heat camera to better detect predators. It’s part of its mission to bring information technology into predator management.

Naturalist and environmental advocate Ruud Kleinpaste talks to NewstalkZB about how collaboration is the key for a Predator Free NZ. NEXT Predator Free Community Champion Kelvin Hastie and the Wellington City Predator Free Project come in for special mention.

Taranaki Mounga and Taranaki Kiwi Trust have teamed
up to give kiwis released onto the Mounga a better
chance of survival.
As this video shows, some of the kiwis released onto the Mounga this month have been fitted with transmitters
for better protection.

New innovations in possum trapping,
rat detection and new prescriptions for
1080 are highlighted in the ZIP annual
report published this week.
NEXT invests in ZIP – which
is at the forefront of developing new technology
to assist with the challenge of New Zealand
being Predator Free by 2050.

The endangered takahē – once thought to
be extinct, has now reached a population of 300.
Radio NZ reports on the history and recovery efforts
of this unique species.
NEXT’s environmental initiative Rotoroa Island is home
to a breeding pair of takahē and a chick as part of an innovative
conservation programme between DOC, Auckland Zoo and Rotoroa Island.

NEXT environmental advisor Sir Rob Fenwick talks conservation and farming on this week’s episode on TV One’s Country Calendar.

View here

Do you have an ambitious Predator Free
project and looking for funding?
PFNZ2050 is inviting applications in its inaugural
EOI funding round. Applications close in
October.

http://pf2050.co.nz/expressions-of-interest/

“He waka eke noa.. we are all in this together. We need help, let’s paddle the waka together..” Jamie Tuuta, Maori Trustee, CEO Te Tumu Paeroa, Chair Taranaki Mounga, on kaupapa Maori iwi and philanthropy, shares his insights into Maoridom today; philanthropy – and how iwi and philanthropists can work together for a better New Zealand.

In the NEXT September Newsletter we highlight our education investment in the First 1000 days
with an opinion piece from the Children’s Commissioner; and some technology trials in Talking Matters.
We also bring you an environmental update from Project Janszoon and introduce some young Canterbury songwriters
in our Meet the Musicians series.

NEXT Predator Free Community Champion Kelvin Hastie has joined the Ministry for Primary Industries Biosecurity 2025 4.7million Strategic Direction Working Group.

In this article he talks of parallels in his new role with the work he has been doing supporting Wellington community groups with backyard trapping.

The NEXT supported initiative to establish Wellington as the first
Predator Free capital city in the world is gaining momentum.
This Predator Free Wellington newsletter updates information
on the project – including progress on the Miramar Peninsula.

Wellington City’s plans to become the first Predator Free capital in the world are gaining momentum – with 26 suburbs now running their own backyard trapping programme.

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Wellington is coming up to the first anniversary of its announcement to become Predator Free – and a recent study shows Wellingtonians are right behind it.

Read More

New Zealand is one year into its mission of becoming Predator Free by 2050. The Department of Conservation reflects on what’s happened in the 12 months – including updates on NEXT initiatives Taranaki Mounga, Project Janszoon, NEXT Predator Free Community Champion Kelvin Hastie, The Cacophony Project and Zero Invasive Predators.

In the NEXT July update … we bring you a new sixty second video This is NEXT ; news on an investment in The Cacophony Project; a story on the return of absent residents on Taranaki Mounga; and a profile on one of our musician friends from Play it Strange.

This is NEXT … in sixty seconds. We are often asked for an “executive summary” of who is NEXT and what we do -so we have put our story in a one minute video .

A desire to improve the genetic diversity of kaka released into the Abel Tasman National Park has seen the launch of a northern South Island kaka captive breeding programme.

No kiwi, no kea, no kaka – NEXT environmental advisor Sir Rob Fenwick explains in the NZ Herald why New Zealand just has to become Predator Free.

Read the article here

Could sound lures and artificial intelligence be key tools in New Zealand becoming Predator Free? NEXT Foundation and Zero Invasive Predators is delighted to announce it is investing in the Cacophony Project – a research and development open sourced initiative using information technology in conservation.

NEXT environmental initiative Taranaki Mounga has been honoured with a prestigious Green Ribbon Award.

The project, a collaboration restoring the biodiversity to the National Park, won the Philanthropy and Partnership category.

NEXT CEO Bill Kermode welcomed
the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on Saving New Zealand’s Birds released today.

“The report’s title – Taonga of an island nation – appropriately highlights the importance of our native birdlife to who we are as a nation” he said.

NEXT environmental initiative the Rotoroa Island Trust has farewelled its Chairman Barrie Brown.
Barrie has stepped down after a decade at the helm – and oversaw the transition from being
a former Salvation Army drug and rehabilitation centre to the conservation park and wildlife
sanctuary it is today.

A milestone for Taranaki Mounga project, one of the environmental initiatives NEXT invests in.

The Mounga has some new residents … following a successful relocation of the toutouwai or New Zealand robin from Pureora Forest Park to Mt Taranaki.

NEXT was privileged to host international entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Richard Branson on a visit to Rotoroa Island – as part of his interest in New Zealand’s mission to become Predator Free by 2050.

NEXT environmental advisor Sir Rob Fenwick has declared a call to arms to protect our country – in a national battle against invasive predators.

In a speech for NEXT Outlook Sir Robert says toxins and genetics should be part of the weaponry – but with the right careful but bold strategy a Predator Free New Zealand can be a reality.

David Thomas and his wife sold their mail order wine business for $A160miiliion – and decided to give half of it away.

The Australian environmentalist shares his story about how he decided where to donate his money – and how philanthropy has changed him.

NEXT Foundation has today confirmed its Chairman Chris Liddell is stepping down as non-executive Chairman. Chris’ resignation follows his appointment as Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives in the United States Administration.

NEXT Foundation is pleased to be supporting eight New Zealand environment and education organisations, in addition to the five Foundation initiatives that the trustees had committed to before NEXT’s 2014 launch.

NEXT is pleased to present its inaugural Review – documenting the NEXT journey over its first two and a half years.

The Review updates all the NEXT and Foundation initiatives in our focus areas of the environment and education – plus
comments from the NEXT leadership team.

Josie Hick drew the inspiration for her song “Dream Come True” sitting on her couch one day taking in the spectacular view of Mount Taranaki. Her song now backs NEXT’s video of the Taranaki Mounga project – a groundbreaking collaboration to restore the iconic mountain and National Park.

NEXT has welcomed a landmark collaboration announced today to help fund Taranaki Mounga – the project restoring the biodiversity of Egmont National Park.

Read the Media Release here

Wellington City Council (WCC), the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and NEXT Foundation, today announced a joint collaboration to make Wellington the first Predator Free capital city in the world.

NEXT Foundation is delighted to announce a new partnership to support communities becoming predator free – it has engaged Wellingtonian Kelvin Hastie as the NEXT Predator Free Community Champion.

NEXT Foundation would like to introduce you to singer songwriter Jess Adams.

Jess is an Otago University student whose song “Under the Same Sky” plays in NEXT’s Predator Free 2050 videoand Te Awaroa video.

That’s the bold vision of the Government, which announced
$28 million investment over the next four years to kick start this
campaign… inspired by projects like NEXT’s Rotoroa Island and
Mount Taranaki Mounga.

The Next Foundation values its relationship with Play It Strange, a Trust which encourages young New Zealanders to develop their song writing and musical skills.
Play it Strange has generously granted NEXT access to its artists – whose music appears on our project videos, on our website.

NEXT Chairman Chris Liddell outlines the Foundation’s philanthropic investment focus in education and the environment.

The NEXT Foundation has confirmed the areas it is most interested in regarding its strategy to improve New Zealand’s environment and education.

The guidelines have been released as it reaches its two year milestone and in advance of the next round of funding applications in 2017.

PRESS RELEASE:

NEXT Foundation Invests in Large Conservation Project

FRIDAY
11 DECEMBER, 2015

An ambitious new conservation project aiming to
be one of the largest biodiversity restoration projects of its kind in New
Zealand is getting a giant boost.

An ambitious new conservation project has been the latest recipient of NEXT Foundation support: Project Taranaki Mounga aims to make Egmont National Park the first predator-free national park, creating a haven for native wildlife.

ZIP is a partnership between the Department of Conservation and NEXT Foundation, and commenced operations in February 2015.
This report touches on the work programme that began in March 2013 under Department of Conservation management, with more detail provided on the activities of the 2014/2015 business year.