TEAM Compostion
Success of most ventures is dependent on contributors working to role and accepting and fulfilling responsibilities.
"Who does what?" or who is supposed to do what needs to be addressed in all projects to maximise efficiency. So, being no different in this respect to any other project, we ask ourselves, "Who does what?".
Three trustees charged with promotion of the project and governance over employment of funds and legislative aspects.
Jo Tilson
Treasurer and Project coordinator
I grew up in the North Island and then studied at Otago University where I fell in love with NZ's mountain wilderness. After leaving university I had a number of temporary jobs in out of the way but scenic locations where I spent every spare moment exploring or tramping the rugged hills. I tried my hand at various jobs but it was the Department of Conservation that I kept going back to. Working with nature was what I wanted to do. Lots of part time contracts eventually led to a fulltime job on the kiwi team at Tongariro where I stayed for the next three years. After learning most of what I know about kiwi the south island beckoned once more and I soon headed back to the west coast to work with the very special and rare Okarito brown kiwi or rowi, where I discovered that I had a lot more to learn.
I took a break from kiwi for a few years while I dabbled my toes in the water to learn a little bit about whio. But by this stage I had brought a house in Blackball and it was not long after that I started thinking about the elusive great spots.
So now here I am, working on my most enjoyable and challenging kiwi project yet. This is a project which occupies 120% of my time and one that I am deeply committed to and passionate about.
It is a real pleasure to work on a community project in the hills behind my house with a species of kiwi about which there is still so much to learn.
Luc Bohyn
Trust Secretary
Luc is originally from Belgium. He started travelling to New Zealand in 1992, he now spends most of his time in NZ and has a family here.
He firstly got indirectly involved with the Paparoa Wildlife Trust (PWT) Luc being a director of Roa Mining Company, one of the PWT's main sponsors, he was aware of the project from its very early days and the more he learned about the Roroa and the Whio the more passionate he became.
He personally supported the PWT by helping them financing the construction of the Bois Gentil Kiwi Crèche.
Now he is taking up the challenge to find broader support for the Trust's activities and make the PWT and its valuable activities more widely known.
Chris Auchinvole
Political representative
Chris lives in Moana at Lake Brunner with his wife Elspeth, who was born and bred on the West Coast. Chris was born in Scotland, educated in England, attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and joined his two brothers in New Zealand in 1964. Chris has been a contract milker, a farm adviser, managed a $30 million export company for the Dairy Board and operated his own small business exporting primary products, specialising in fish and seafood exports.
Political activity through commitment to National Party policies has been a major interest for Chris throughout his career.
He was selected as National's 2005 candidate for the West Coast-Tasman electorate and became a List Member for National. Chris is an Associate Spokesman for Tourism and for Energy (Mining). He serves on the Justice and Electoral Select Committee and is a member of the National Caucus Primary Production Committee.
Chris has always played an active part in the communities he and his family have lived in. He is a Justice of the Peace, a keen fly fisherman and enjoys walking in the bush. Chris and Elspeth have two married children and three grand-daughters and one grandson.
James Fraser: A nose for Conservation
Details
Steve Sawyer of Ecoworks
Staff members manage and execute all project activities.
DAVID BRYAN
Responsible for the Bois Gentil Kiwi Crèche
Davey is a West Coast Bushman originally from Blackball now living in Aratika near lake Brunner with his wife Jo Halley who is a field worker for the PWT.
Davey has been responsible for construction of the Bois Gentil Kiwi Crèche and now looks after its maintenance, pest control, planting and the general wellbeing of the Kiwi chicks that the crèche hosts.
Davey also helps out with field work when required.
GLEN NEWTON
Kiwi Ranger - (DOC)
Glenn is employed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and reports to the Programme Manager Biodiversity (Greymouth).
Under an agreement between the DOC and the Paparoa Wildlife Trust (PWT) Glenn works 40 hours per fortnight on PWT work tasks as a Kiwi ranger.
Jo Halley
Kiwi Ranger/Volunteer coordinator
I was born in Wellington and grew up at Paremata, and spent much of my childhood roaming the hills and coastlines, and fishing, with my dad and 2 older brothers and the dog. Mum was a teacher, and I was encouraged in my enthusiasm for the outdoors and especially the animal kingdom.
At 16 I came to the Coast and got on with having a family. Back up north I worked in horticulture, and gained a better knowledge and deep love of our native plants. When the kids were older I soon got back into tramping and fishing, and after they fledged we travelled, spending a lot of time here on the Coast.
I lived in Motueka for a year gaining Outdoor Recreation quals, and worked guiding for a Nelson company for 6 years. I moved back here in 2002 and remarried. Davey is a West Coast bushman, and we live at Aratika near Lake Brunner with our dogs, Jock and Sky, and cat Pikelet. I started working for the Trust early in 2008, and am enjoying training Sky to be a kiwi dog.
I've invested my genes in 2 children, and they are flourishing in 7 grandchildren. I hope the work we're doing with Great Spotted Kiwi will benefit many future generations of kiwis.
Gary Glasson
I live in Blackball with my partner Sue and our 8yr old son Samuel where we have a beekeeping business. We are into hunting, fishing, cycles, moto x, camping, gardening and heaps of other stuff I have been a volunteer with the Paparoa Wildlife trust for over two years. I really enjoy getting out in the bush and its good to be helping the Whio in the Croesus / Moonlight area as I have witnessed their decline over the last thirty years, they are nearly gone now. Its a challenge and it would be really great if we are successful.
Pete Diamond
Wild West Staff
I live in Barrytown with my partner Sandra and our two boys Nikau 2.5years and Kahlo 1 years old.
I have been living on the West coast for the best part of 10 years working as a guide in the outdoors, before that i was based in Nelson working in the nursery industry .
I grew up in Wellington where my love for the outdoors began. Possum hunting with mates, tramping in the Tararuas and all my adult life I have been working and playing in the outdoors.
I've been involved with the Paparoa Wildlife Trust for the last year. I check the Croesus Track trap line and regularly clear and rebait the traps.
my loves are my family and the outdoors
my pet hates are computers and been stuck inside
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston has had a lifelong affinity with the Paparoas. He has been involved in everything from logging its rimu & beech forests to recording the whereabouts of great spotted kiwi throughout the Paparoas, for the former Wildlife Service. His volunteer role with the Paparoa Wildlife Trust is due to concerns over the dramatic decline in blue duck numbers in the Moonlight catchment. Trevor has a desire to see the PWT become an effective community group that plays a vital role in halting the decline of threatened species inhabiting the Paparoa Range.
Poppy Tilson
Firstly I would just like to say that I am not a regular dog. I am a super special, super smart border collie who has a double degree in whio finding and kiwi location.
Mostly, the other dogs in the neighbourhood give me the respect I deserve but there are a few who need a bit of a snap or a growl from me before they understand their place in the world.
I think I am the boss of my household, although occasionally I have to sleep outside or wear something pretty uncomfortable on my nose and then I wonder if maybe I'm just the boss =.
Anyway my life is pretty good. I get to go walking and running in the Paparoa's and get heaps of rides in Chris's helicopter where I always get to sit in front and look straight down on the world below.
I don't mind those kiwi birds either, although those spotted ones are sometimes pretty difficult to find and even more difficult for the boss= to catch.
Sky Halley
I'm a short-haired, black and white border collie, born 24 March 2007. I'm a sheepdog by breed, and I have a very strong "eye". This means I will try and herd animals towards my owner by running round them and making them move by crouching down and challenging them to move just with my eyes, not by barking. Poppy from Blackball is my mother, and Mack from Roa up the road, is my dad.
Jo took a fancy to me early on, but Jo Tilson wanted to keep me to train as a kiwi dog. Now I live at Aratika with Jo and Davey, and Jo is working for the Trust. I've got my first stage certificate so I can go into kiwi country and learn how to find the birds. I wear a muzzle so I can't ever hurt a bird by mistake, and I'm on a lead when we're looking for a burrow. I'm learning to be very obedient, and I'm especially good at keeping in behind. There are a lot of exciting animal smells in the bush, like possum, goats, deer, stoats and weka, and I have to learn to ignore them all when I'm looking for a kiwi. It's very hard for a dog to go past a burrow with a possum in it!
I love chasing a stick or ball, especially on the beach and into the water. I like going for a run with Dave, and being in the bush, and sometimes I help when he's working on the farm. I really love kids. But most of all I like to watch Pikelet on the sofa, trying to make her move with just my eyes.