Rabobank Volunteer Day with The Forest Bridge Trust

Corporate volunteering is a growing trend, we are seeing more businesses give their staff one paid day a year to give a helping hand to community projects.

Last week The Forest Bridge Trust hosted a group of 16 Rabobank employees for a Volunteering Day at our Mataia Restoration Project.

Elena our Volunteer Coordinator designed a program for the Rabobank Team that provided an overview on introduced predators and their impact on New Zealand’s native wildlife. Kevin and Gill Adshead, founders of The Forest Bridge Trust, kindly shared their story of bringing kiwi back to the Kaipara and the importance of predator control to help save many native plant and bird species from the extinction.

Later the team of volunteers got a chance to get into the bush for practical experience in trapping by walking a trapline to check and rebait the traps. Our visitors were also introduced to predator monitoring and went into the forest to collect tracking cards to analyse the findings. Monitoring is often overlooked however it provides a great insight into whether the restoration efforts are working and where to target extra attention. Tracking cards and tunnels are specifically designed to identify what type of predators are roaming around in the bush.

“We have designed this type of program for corporates that wish to become more aware of biodiversity issues, land connectivity and environmental sustainability across Aotearoa. We received great feedback from the participants who were really inspired and keen to become active in predator control in their local conservation areas. We noticed the many benefits these corporate volunteers got from being in the outdoors, working together and making a difference to local community. What a great team building exercise!” Elena Suin, Volunteer Coordinator at The Forest Bridge Trust.

Thanks to Ross Neal, Agribusiness Manager from Rabobank, who helped organising this great group of potential wildlife ambassadors😊

If you are a corporate group / organisation looking to get your team involved with local conservation please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Elena Suin to discuss how you could get involved with helping The Forest Bridge Trust.