Waiheke grants bring stories to life and protect native wildlife

Local board funding is helping Waiheke community groups deliver creative experiences for families while supporting the island’s ongoing fight to eradicate stoats.

• $60,467has been awarded through the Waiheke Local Board’s Local and Environmental Grant Round.
• Funding is supporting community, arts, youth, environmental and conservation projects across Waiheke.
• Grant funding is helping bring arts and literary experiences to island families and support stoat eradication and native bird recovery.

For Waiheke’s community organisations, local funding can make the difference between a good idea and a project that reaches people across the island.

The Waiheke Local Board awarded $60,467 through its Local and Environmental Grant Round, supporting projects that strengthen community connections, wellbeing, arts and culture, and environmental protection.

Supporting island communities

Waiheke Local Board Chair Kylee Matthews says the grants programme gives locals and organisations the opportunity to turn their ideas into action.

“The Waiheke Local Board grants programme is a direct way we can enable locals and organisations to bring great ideas to life. Through this funding we're able to back projects that strengthen community connections, celebrate our island character, and protect and restore our natural environment, our taonga tuku iho for future generations.”

For Once Upon An Island Charitable Trust, funding is helping bring high-quality arts and literary experiences to Waiheke families.

The trust is preparing to take part in New Zealand’s first National Book Week, running from 15 to 21 August, through its Waiheke Children’s Book Festival.

“Travelling off island for events can be expensive for families. The funding means that the Waiheke community can enjoy and participate in high quality art activities without the cost of travel,” says Tanya from Once Upon An Island.

The funding has also enabled the trust to invite guests from off island while including local artists in its programme.

For a community separated from the mainland by the Hauraki Gulf, being able to access these experiences locally is particularly valuable.

Protecting Waiheke’s native wildlife

Stoat tracking dogs on Waiheke Island.

The grants are also supporting work to protect the native wildlife that makes Waiheke special.

Te Korowai o Waiheke Trust received funding towards stoat detection dog visits as part of the final phase of work to eradicate stoats from the island.

With stoat numbers now extremely low, finding the remaining animals is increasingly important.

Over the past four months, detection dogs have helped locate five of the last 12 stoats captured, making a significant contribution at a critical stage of the eradication programme.

Three specialist teams have worked across the motu, searching from Ōwhanake to Park Point and Thompson’s Point to Ōrapiu.

Together, the teams have covered around 760 kilometres, equivalent to 18 marathons.

Te Korowai o Waiheke’s Frank Lepera says the support helps bring the specialist teams back to the island.

“This vital work is only possible thanks to the support of our community and funders like the Waiheke Local Board. Every contribution helps bring these highly skilled detection teams back to Waiheke, protecting our precious native wildlife and helping us move ever closer to a stoat-free Waiheke.”

The work is helping protect Waiheke’s recovering native bird populations, with recent five-minute bird counts showing significant increases in several species.

Counts of native birds were up 99 per cent, while kākā numbers increased by 930 per cent, kōtare by 299 per cent and kererū by 89 per cent. Tōrea pango numbers also increased by 185 per cent.

Local funding, local impact

From bringing authors, artists and performers to Waiheke to helping specialist conservation teams search the island’s bush, the grants demonstrate the range of work being delivered by local organisations.

The funding round supported a range of community initiatives, including youth programmes, sporting activities, spoken-word workshops, events and marine education, alongside environmental projects focused on conservation and sustainability.

For the groups receiving support, the value goes beyond the individual projects.

It helps make opportunities more accessible to island families, brings people together and supports the long-term protection of Waiheke’s natural environment.

Find out more about Auckland Council grants and funding opportunities.