The Royal Forest and Bird
Protection Society of New Zealand is New Zealand’s largest national conservation
organisation. The Society's mission is to preserve and protect the native plants
and animals and natural features of New Zealand.
Forest and Bird is
active on a wide range of conservation and environmental issues. These include
the protection of native forests, tussock grasslands, wetlands, coastlines and
marine ecosystems, energy and resource conservation, sustainable fisheries and
sustainable land management. Forest and Bird is also involved in South Pacific
rainforest conservation work and is working to ensure the protection of Antarctica
from environmental damage.
Forest and Bird’s strength as an organisation
comes from its thousands of members in over 50 branches throughout the country. Much
of the on-the-ground conservation work of the Society is done by volunteer branch
members who run local campaigns and comprehensive conservation programmes in their
regions.
A team of professional conservation staff with scientific,
resource management and advocacy skills, based in Wellington, Auckland, Nelson,
Christchurch and Dunedin, are involved in advocacy and lobbying work at all levels
of government.
Forest and Bird is not a government department and therefore
relies on the support and generosity of the public through membership
subscriptions, donations and bequests for its income to fund conservation
work.
For young conservationists, Forest and Bird formed the Kiwi
Conservation Club, with its own magazine and local activities.
The
Society administers the Threatened
Species Trust, a partnership between the Society and the Department of Conservation.
Its aim is to encourage corporate sponsorship of conservation, with the funds
going directly towards saving the chosen threatened birds, plants and their habitats.
Current sponsorships include kiwi (BNZ) and kakapo (Comalco).
The Society
also administers the JS Watson Conservation Trust
which was established under the Will of the late Katherine Watson in memory of
her husband, who until his death in 1959, was active in the field of conservation
and research.
