New Zealand Nature Program

  New Zealand

• Wellington: 
Wellington

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks and 9-12 weeks
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: Ongoing opportunity

Description: This program is located in one of the most picturesque cities in the world. You will join a small team of volunteers working to preserve, monitor, and re-establish our natural environment here in the Wellington region and beyond. Prepare yourself to encounter the challenges of 'hands on' conservation and environmental restoration work in our native forests, wildlife reserves, rugged coastlines, and offshore islands.

The aim of New Zealand program is twofold; first we provide much needed volunteer assistance to conservation groups and conservation projects within New Zealand. In return we offer our volunteers a unique and diverse experience that will expose them to many aspects of NZ conservation; this in turn will hopefully give our volunteers a greater understanding of conservation as a whole.

Volunteers form an integral part of our habitat restoration, wildlife monitoring and environmental/conservation research projects. The volunteer team is headquartered near Wellington and our program area is based largely in the Greater Wellington region. However, several of our projects also provide the opportunities to work in other regions of New Zealand. The work that you will be involved with is typically a combination of direct habitat restoration (e.g. predator control, tree planting, invasive weed removal) and environmental/conservation research such as bird monitoring, marine mammal monitoring and ecological projects.

Examples of projects we are currently involved with include:

    * Replanting native forests (on the mainland and also on off-shore islands)
    * Monitoring native birds to examine the efficacy of predator control
    * Stream quality monitoring as part of a regional stream health project
    * Recording dolphin species and movements within Wellington harbour
    * Restoring degraded dune ecosystems
    * Removing pest plants from several native ecosystems (e.g. dunes, forests)
    * Predator control within native forests in Wellington and the Coromandel
    * Trail construction and park maintenance within wildlife reserves
    * Trash and weed removal from harbour islands- involves kayaking to the islands (summer only)

Please note that some projects are seasonal.

Highlights: New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, is perched on the shores of a deep natural harbour surrounded by wooded hills. The Wellington region encompasses diverse landforms, indigenous plants and wildlife, and an extensive and varied coastline. Wellington is a centre for threatened species management and has a number of captive breeding facilities working with some of our most rare bird, reptile, and insect species.

Qualifications: Volunteers on the New Zealand Nature Project must be 18 years old or over, have no major health problems, be a competent swimmer, be proficient in English, and possess initiative and an enthusiasm for the environment.

Cost in US$: See Website

Experience Required: no

Age Range: Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age

This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi and South African Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to New Zealand Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 10

Application Process Involves:

• Other

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Global Volunteer Network's Mission Statement: The Global Volunteer Network (GVN) is a private, Non Government Organization (NGO) based in Wellington, New Zealand. Our incorporation number is WN/1194442. Our vision is to support the work of local community organizations in developing countries through the placement of international volunteers. We believe that local communities are in the best position to determine their needs, and we provide volunteers to help them achieve their goals.

Year Founded: 2000