Grant funding from Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board is helping volunteers make a difference at Glenfern Sanctuary Regional Park in the northwest of the island.
For many years, Glenfern has operated with an ambitious vision to create a pest suppressed ecological sanctuary where native species can flourish again. Achieving that vision requires people – skilled conservationists, passionate volunteers, researchers, students and community members.
Until now the sanctuary has lacked the infrastructure to properly host and support all the people required for the mahi. The new volunteer and community centre, which includes five separate accommodation cabins, changes that.
Grant funding of $19,000 from the local board, means these cabins have power, allowing a consistent light source for the comfort and safety of the volunteers using them.
“It’s wonderful to see that this grant has helped Glenfern finish the cabins, so that it can get the extra support it needs from volunteers and people working towards its vision,” says Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board chair Izzy Fordham.
“We encourage other community groups and organisations to apply to our grant rounds for important local projects and activities.”
The new centre now has a stream of volunteers working at Glenfern. It has turned the sanctuary into a base camp for ecological restoration, learning, and community engagement.
With people able to stay and work on site, the sanctuary can dramatically increase pest control coverage, native planting, biodiversity monitoring, track and habitat management, and research partnerships.
Glenfern Sanctuary Trust chair Rupert Wilson said: “We could not have achieved this without our massive community of support.”
“Now we have a home for volunteers. The real breakthrough is not just the building itself. It is the moment when a remote sanctuary becomes a living community of conservation - a place where volunteers from Aotea, New Zealand, and around the world can come together to restore nature.”
While the board is not responsible for the day-to-day running of Glenfern, this project aligns with two of the local board’s grant programme outcomes: “treasured and enriched whenua” and “fit for purpose island infrastructure”.
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