Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to our appeal to buy and restore 80 hectares of rare coastal Totara forest near Invercargill in Southland. We’re thrilled to share the news that we’ve reached the halfway mark, having now raised $750,000 of the $1.5 million targets. We have just three weeks left to raise the remaining funds but with your help, we can do it!

It’s an area of considerable ecological importance and is of national significance. It has remnant native forest, and the potential to regenerate naturally with careful management. It’s exactly the type of area that the Native Forest Restoration Trust was founded to protect and the opportunity to save it is one that we just couldn’t let pass by.

We will do everything we can to raise the necessary funds in time. With such a huge target and such limited time, we know that unfortunately we also have to have a contingency plan. Every dollar we raise will go directly to purchasing part of this important habitat and the more we can raise the more we can save, but if we have a shortfall, we may need to on-sell a small portion of the land to recover some of the costs.

Every square metre that we can protect is a huge win for the conservation of our native species. The clock is ticking. It’s awful timing, but if you are able to help us save as much of this ecologically significant area as we can, that would be amazing. You can make a donation on our website to help make this possible: https://www.nfrt.org.nz/otatara-reserve-appeal/ Thank you.