Filling the gaps others don’t reach
The financial challenges involved in organising volunteer conservation work led a Hamilton couple to set up a philanthropic investment fund to fill the funding gaps faced by the region’s nature groups.
Selwyn and Dianne June first established the Waikato Hauraki Conservation Fund at Momentum Waikato with a significant donation in late 2021, which was during the Covid pandemic, so they only started grantmaking and promoting it to environmental networks in late 2023.
Five conservation projects around the Waikato benefited from those first grants - Kakepuku Mountain Conservation Society for trap refills and bait; Rings Beach Wetland Group Inc for possum, mustelid and rat traps; Kaitiakitanga Charitable Trust for engaging youth on pest control and riparian planting projects; Roselle Gould for predator traps near a stream and wetland at Whangamata; and Holthuizer Farm near Walton for riparian planting.
The Junes’ intent is to provide a long-term funding source for conservation work anywhere in the wider Waikato region, that the public can support with donations.
🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…
I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
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Bargain or big risk? Crown puts Huntly subsidence home on the market
A Crown-owned subsidence property has come on the market, but whether potential buyers reckon it’s a bargain or risky buy is yet to be seen.
While some might view the Huntly east property as a bargain, Huntly real estate agents reckoned living on top of the mining zone makes some buyers nervous they’re going to “just sink one day”. Although, the agents are fairly confident the area is safe.
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