Date:  13 January 2016

The Wellington Marine Conservation Trust has been inspiring young people to take action for conservation for many years through their Marine Education Centre at Island Bay (IBMEC). Thanks to the DOC Community Fund - Pūtea Tautiaki Hapori they will now be able to expand their successful outreach programmes. The Trust Chairman, Victor Anderlini, was delighted to sign the deed of grant allocating $75,000 of funding to their outreach programmes.

IBMEC Community Outreach Coordinator Zoe Studd is excited about this opportunity to increase conservation awareness in partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC), "this funding will allow us to reach significantly more kids and support them with action projects, where they can make a real difference for their local environment."

IBMEC are the regional providers of the Mountains to Sea Trust Experiencing Marine Reserves and Whitebait Connection programmes. These programmes have a huge influence on local schools and communities, helping them to engage with marine and freshwater environments, and inspiring them to make a difference in areas of degraded habitats through supporting kaitiaki projects.

"The Department is committed to supporting its partners in conservation education and IBMEC's outreach programmes fit well with the vision to inspire kids to be conservation leaders by creating a connection and sense of guardianship to their local environment", says Department of Conservation's Lower North Island Operations Director Reg Kemper.

The purpose of the DOC Community Fund is to inspire and enable community-led conservation growth.

The fund is directed at practical, on-the-ground projects. These projects will maintain and restore the diversity of our natural heritage and enable more people to participate in recreation, enjoy and learn from our historic places, and engage with and value the benefits of conservation.

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