Ambitious crowdfunding project ‘touch and go’

A bid to buy the last unprotected bit of forest in the Waitakere Ranges is falling well short of its target.

And time is fast running out. With a deadline of October 1, the campaign has so far raised only 8 per cent of the $1.25 million needed.

The Matuku Link Trust hopes to buy the 37ha block of land in the Bethells Valley, its spokesperson John Sumich said.

The land forms a link between two protected areas of native bush and wetland, the Matuku Reserve and Ark in the Park.

The trust currently has just $98,171.70 pledged through the Give-a-little site set up to raise the necessary funds.

“I’m hoping that we will considerably increase the amount of funding we get from the public when we get enough exposure," Dr Sumich said this week.

The original sum required was $2 million but donations from the Native Forest Restoration Trust and the Nature Heritage Fund reduced it to $1.25 million.

John Staniland, honorary ranger of Matuku Reserve and one of the project’s trustees, said the site was important because of the buildings that come with it, as well as the fauna and flora.

A house and barn on the site, he said, could be turned into an education centre for visiting students.

The site is “very accessible”, he added, with a tar-seal road leading to the buildings rather than the gravel roads through the Matuku Reserve and Ark in the Park.

When asked whether it would be possible to raise the funds in time, Mr Staniland replied:

“It’s touch and go.”

Several academics have endorsed the project, largely due to the accommodation available for students on the site.

Biologists Dianne Brunton, Jacqueline Beggs and John Ralph praised the project on the Matuku Link website.

Professor Brunton told Te Waha Nui that the Matuku Link site would be helpful for postgraduate study but was also important as a corridor for wildlife.

“Corridors that connect safe areas are pretty rare,” she said.

Dr Sumich acknowledged that raising the necessary amount of money would be difficult, but said it was important to continue.

The project is “not only about fundraising but awareness-raising”, he said.