The Kiwis for Kiwi Trust
Posted on November 06, 2017
Kupe House service captains Finn Stranaghan and Lauren Kjestrup presented Paul O’Shea from The Kiwis for Kiwi Trust a cheque for $6210 last week.
The money was raised by Kupe students to further the conservation work the Trust undertakes to turn around the fortunes of New Zealand’s iconic national bird.
The Trust has a goal of increasing the national Kiwi population by 2% per annum by 2020. During an interesting presentation, Mr O’Shea informed students that funds raised by Kupe House will be used to provide Kōhanga kiwi, fenced protected areas and predator free islands. Some of these islands like Motuihe and Motutapu are visible from Kupe House here at the school.
Kupe staff member Mr Buckley recently attended a Kiwi release on Motutapu with students Samuel Willcock and Radina Boteva. Both Mr Buckley and Radina describe the day as “an amazing experience I would do again in a heartbeat”. Radina went on to say that it was a moving experience that felt very authentic, knowing the bird was to be released in to the wild. Samuel described the chick as “unique and magnificent”. He thoroughly enjoyed the day especially the pōwhiri and seeing the chick for the first time. Samuel plans to volunteer for Kiwis for Kiwi in the future.
