Tradie by day and groovy dancer by night, Brett has taken to life in Whāingaroa like a duck to water. Brett Savage has been a Karioi volunteer for just over a year, but already he has contributed to making our trap box-building days a roaring success!

Take a look at the generosity of the community through our givealittle campaign!

The Karioi biodiversity rangers have been hard at work to intensify predator control on Karioi, cutting kilometre after kilometre of tracks across 250 bushy hectares and installing 530 bait stations in preparation for ground control of predators.

Each day, volunteers in our community step up to help build a healthy, thriving and resilient community and environment through restoring biodiversity. Conrad Jackson is just one of these everyday heroes.

Local businesses support the Karioi Project in a variety of ways, putting our logo on their products across New Zealand, donating through 1% for the Planet, or discounting their services. Thank you to all our local supporters!

Now everyone can show their role in the collective effort towards a predator-free Whāingaroa with these Backyard Hub wooden letterbox badges.

‘Karioi’, presented by Patagonia as part of their 1% For The Planet environmental grants program, is releasing live to the world on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 8:00 PM NZST.

Our volunteers, like Jasmine Edgar, are driven by a passion for the environment and a keen love of the outdoors. Jasmine has been volunteering for over 5 years after her kids got involved with our after-school programme. These days, she does a trapline every week!

A jack of all trades, caring for people and nature – Liam joined the team in 2021 and has become indispensable. Four years ago, Liam was one of the first graduates from the Manaaki Ao program.

Until recently, seabirds were relegated to offshore islands - out of sight and out of mind of most Kiwis. But seabirds are making a comeback - hitting the news and rebounding back on the mainland, and into the consciousness of New Zealanders.

Meet our “rockstars” - the Karioi education team! This term, we delivered several programmes for inspirational young people in Whāingaroa! What’s it like to engage with Karioi education programmes?

Rachael Goddard caught 7 rats last week! Rat season is here.. Read more from Rachael in… Confessions of a Backyard Trapper

“People protect what they love.” - Jascques Costeau. We’re passionate about connecting people to nature. Since most New Zealand native species are hard to see, we are introducing some new signage to Raglan walkways and reserves.

It’s time to introduce you to another one of our amazing volunteers, Lynda Lim. When she moved here, Lynda noticed the traps in her neighbourhood on her daily dog walks and started wondering if she could help out.

Last month, Oliver took our volunteers on a walk at Te Toto Gorge. We learned how unique Karioi really is and all about Oliver’s research as he undertakes the creation of a new geological map of Karioi. Dual volcanism, ankaramite, and clinopyroxene crystals, oh my!

For several years, the Karioi Project has been offering Whāingaroa young people the opportunity to be a Karioi Kid (aged 7-8) or a Karioi Ranger (ages 9-12) and the Karioi School Holiday Program was a 2020 addition to the education stream of the Karioi Project.

Last year, Mark Frost of Bayleys Real Estate was inspired after volunteering for the project checking traps and getting involved in beach clean-ups. Mark offered to donate $10,000 of his commission from the successful list and sale of a property in Raglan.

Patagonia and Dave Rastovich have teamed up with the Karioi Project in Raglan to create something pretty special. The film “Karioi” will showcase how a community can protect biodiversity at any level and raise awareness for a great cause!

Dave Currie moved to Raglan over 20 years ago to get out of Auckland and be part of our small coastal community. Dave left full-time employment several years ago to get really involved with the community here. He’s been volunteering for the Karioi Project for several years (since before we started counting).

If you are a cat or dog owner - then you have the power to influence and help restore biodiversity in a few simple steps. Sadly, our pets are also a significant danger to our native wildlife.