Ata Marie from President Shiv.

Guests – Fi Be Sullivan, Doug Hallbert, Louise Saunders (guest speaker)

Notices & Announcements

Eyes for Africa – Used glasses for Eye Care for Africa clinic will be collected until the end of May.

Alzheimer’s Collection 23 May – get your names down on the circulated sheet

Other Dates:

Change Over –Lunch at the Harbourside 4th July. Mark it in your diary now.

K Valley Planting Day 14 June.

Guest Speaker Louise Saunders is the CEO of Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku, an organization committed to restoring the 260,000 hectares that comprise the Kaimai Mamaku. The project brings together iwi and hapu, conservation agencies and other stakeholders from communities. 

In 2008 and the two Regional Councils were concerned about the possibility of canopy collapse in the forest area. A community forum ran for almost 10 years considering strategic plans to deal with possums and pests and to develop plans to restore the environment. The upshot was the establishment of the Trust. DoC and the regional councils would pool their resources.

The onset of COVID saw money being made available from the government in a Jobs for Nature initiative. Community conservation areas were established and independent entities became able to deliver conservation, with some becoming subject matter experts. Louise saw their key achievements as:- having operational success, an extended reach at a landscape level and their ability to shape conversations and encouraging actions. The next three years will see them consolidate those successes and catalyze change through new AI technology.

Raffle:   Bryan Winters won the homemade raffle. He was kind enough to pass the wine on to our guest speaker.

Sergeant Session 

Some handy advice here on what makes a perfect relationship, and the pitfalls of standing up for yourself. Sage advice.

Parting Thought from Pat Taylor: 

“A Positive Attitude may not solve all your problems but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort