CUE Haven Volunteer Project
I spent a month travelling around the South Island in January, exploring some of the great landscapes and National Parks of New Zealand and quickly came to the realisation that D.O.C couldn’t keep up the New Zealand conservation effort on their own. Hearing about the significant losses of wildlife due to loss of habitat and predators, as well as the significant D.O.C funding cuts over the last 6 years really struck a chord with me.
This sparked my interest in finding ways to give back and utilise my skills in a meaningful way to help with the conservation effort. After searching for volunteering work through D.O.C I came across the CUE Haven project, located one hour north of Auckland, situated on the Kaipara Harbour. The 59 acre project was established in 2008 by Tom and Mahrukh and relies solely on volunteer work. The project in time will be protected with a QEII covenant and gifted to the public to be used as an educational nature reserve for future generations to enjoy. After having visited with Tom and Mahrukh to see the project for myself, I am extremely excited to become a part of the team to help with the further development of CUE Haven over the coming years.
Visit the CUE Haven project here: http://cuehaven.com
I will be working at different capacities and am really excited to provide design ideas for the entire park as well as creating an extensive viewing area at the highest point of the site and bringing that into reality. I will also be getting my hands dirty from time to time to aid with planting, pruning and general maintenance tasks.
Photos from the site of the proposed viewing platform that looks across the wider landscape and Kaipara Harbour.
by Jeremy Parlane.