Tui Nature Reserve Wildlife Trust Open Day

Tui Nature Reserve Wildlife Trust's first Open Day was held on the 17 September 2011 with the  focus on promoting one of our mission statements; youth development.

Present on the day were selected students and teachers from 5 schools and colleges from the Marlborough and Nelson region, along with several home scholars and the representatives of Ngati Kuia, Department of Conservation, QE National Trust, National MP and supporting companies.
 
The charter boat, Southern Pursuit, was kindly sponsored by NZ King Salmon and the Department of Conservation also provided a boat. Perfect weather contributed to a very successful day, with the students showing a lot of interest in the conservation efforts and activities around the reserve.

Speeches from Raymond Smith (Ngati Kuia), Roy Grose ( Department of Conservation) and Colin King (National member of Parliament for Kaikoura) were very inspiring and a welcome boost for the start of our Trusts' activities.

The day consisted of an entertaining guided walk in the restored part of the reserve, and an introduction to our breeding programme. Leona, (who has passed the final exam for the predator detection dog programme) organised a demonstration with rodent detection dog, Chase, and enjoyed a lot of interest from the students.
With the help of a hot drink, home baked cake and volunteers, it was a great day and very inspiring to see so many young people around. With healthy discussions on improving our environment, it was clear that by working together we can make an impact to stop the decline of native species in the area.

A great promotion week for our newly formed Wildlife Trust.

We will keep you posted on further developments.
Tui Team