What's On at Zealandia

Recently we hosted a very special awards night for the volunteers of Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne. 

Over 500 people continue to support our staff by volunteering across the organisation, from infrastructure maintenance to regular and new conservation projects, and all the other tasks in between. Many of them have been with us since the very beginning of the sanctuary when the ground-breaking fence was put in place, while others have joined recently and are very welcome to the whānau.

Find out more about the award recipients here.

Lynn Freeman has been a Zealandia volunteer for many years and is our most recent recipient of our Faye Schaef Award. This award is given to a volunteer who exhibits kindness, generosity, modesty, dedication, friendliness and approachability. She is a staunch advocate for Zealandia and wildlife and is a true asset to our community. Read on to find out more about her volunteer journey.

Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne relies heavily on our amazing community of volunteers. Our volunteers help us with a wide range of tasks and activities. They come from all walks of life and are passionate supporters of the work we do. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them.

When Lynn Freeman is not hard at work in the Radio New Zealand studios, she can often be found in ZEALANDIA, which she describes as her “happy place”, a place where she can get away from the stresses of work, take a walk and listen to the birds.

Sheila Playford has been described as a ‘Giant Weta Woman’. Since 2011, she has carried out a weekly survey of ZEALANDIA’s Giant Weta population and her dedication recently won her a ZEALANDIA ‘kākā’ award for outstanding volunteer contributions.

Volunteer guide Chris Gee was awarded the Faye Schaef award at ZEALANDIA’s annual volunteer dinner and award night in December. Louise Slocombe met up with Chris to talk about the work he does at ZEALANDIA , which he describes as ‘skippering and guiding’. However, as the conversation progressed, she found out he does a huge range of other activities... 

I’ve just met some of Zealandia’s track team. I didn’t know what to expect really. Some kind of experts in running jumping and throwing things maybe? But I quickly found out that while mountain biking and walking were involved, so were lopping, sawing and digging. Track maintenance is their game, and there are two teams, mid-week and weekend.

Alfie Kākā here, enjoying a warm Sunday morning at Zealandia. We kākā have had millions of years to get used to this place, and the local saying “you can’t beat the valley on a good day” has never been more true.

Alfie: “What a great night to be out Bronwen. There’s something special about a night tour around the valley don’t you think? There’s so much more to see. But I don’t see many other humans around. What are you doing here – not monitoring kākā nests surely?”

Bronwen: Isn’t it beautiful Alfie, and you’re right. The valley is just amazing at night. Right now I’m tracking ducks, helping Katie Sheridan with her research on their habitat behaviour. You remember, Katie, you interviewed her last year. Forest ducks, brown teal, or to put it simply, pāteke.

Wellington resident Jim Lynch, QSM, who from 1990 – 1995, managed to sell his dream of a fenced, urban sanctuary, and see it evolve into ZEALANDIA, Wellington’s pride. Jim, now retired and living in Waikanae, remains humble about his achievement. He’s adamant that he was just a small cog within a much larger group effort. “I feel so lucky to have been a part of this project. There was a lot of worry in the first few years, and it’s only in the last 5 years that it’s started to feel safe. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it.