Aspiring Biodiversity Trust – Protecting and Restoring New Zealand's Indigenous Wildlife ~ Connecting People with Nature

Kia ora

And welcome to our initiative

The Aspiring Biodiversity Trust intends to protect and enhance indigenous biodiversity within the Makarora/ Makarore Wilkin/ Ōtānenui Catchments from Ridge to River (part of Mt Aspiring National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site).

At the same time raising awareness of the importance of the natural world and connecting people with nature!

The project area encompasses many of Aotearoa’s iconic and highly threatened species such as rock wren/ pīwauwau, kea and blue duck/ whio of the Wilkin, Tiel and Siberia Valleys. Makarora’s beech/ podocarp forest for kākā, mohua and long-tailed bat/ pekapeka-tou-roa and the braided rivers for black-fronted tern/ tarapiroe and wrybill/ ngutuparore. The location has unique cultural significance to mana whenua and includes highcountry farmland.

Biodiversity (from “biological diversity”) refers to the variety of life on earth. Composed of all plants and animals (inc. their genes) and the ecosystems that support them.

Biodiversity encompasses and forms the foundation of the vast array of ecosystem services. The evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life. At a critical level such systems are fundamental to human wellbeing.

“Global biodiversity restoration ~ intrinsically linked to climate change resilience.“

Taonga

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.“

-Sir David Attenborough

Thank you for visiting ABT!

The persistence of indigenous biodiversity is an indication of ecosystem health, recognising the inter-connectedness of land, water and the community (ki uta ki tai – the Ngāi Tahu whole system approach).