Network Waitaki gives $121,476 to 52 groups
Network Waitaki chief executive officer Dylan Andrews was on deck to present more than $120,000 in donations to community groups in the district at their annual sponsorship awards night on Monday. PHOTO: NIC DUFF
Network Waitaki has dished out more than $120,000 to community groups in the district.
The Oamaru-based lines company held its annual sponsorship awards night at the Oamaru Opera House on Monday, giving away a total of $121,476 to 52 groups.
Network Waitaki chief executive Dylan Andrews said the selection process was as difficult as ever due to "so many worthy initiatives".
"More often than not, our sponsorship grant is a significant contribution towards the cost to buy new equipment, help pay for a tournament or improve the wellbeing of people in the community.
"Every bit helps make Waitaki a better place to live and play."
In addition to the sponsorship awards, Network Waitaki is also a continued sponsor of the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter and the new Network Waitaki Events Centre.
Applications for Network Waitaki's Individual Sporting Programme are open until September 30 and can be made through its website.
Individuals can apply for financial support for personal participation, either locally or at representative level, or for skills development in a chosen field such as music, arts or sport.
— APL
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Network Waitaki gives $121,476 to 52 groups
Network Waitaki chief executive officer Dylan Andrews was on deck to present more than $120,000 in donations to community groups in the district at their annual sponsorship awards night on Monday. PHOTO: NIC DUFF Network Waitaki has dished out more than $120,000 to community groups in the district. The Oamaru-based lines company held its annual sponsorship awards night at the Oamaru Opera House on Monday, giving away a total of $121,476 to 52 groups. Network Waitaki chief executive Dylan Andrews said the selection process was as difficult as ever due to "so many worthy initiatives". "More often than not, our sponsorship grant is a significant contribution towards the cost to buy new equipment, help pay for a tournament or improve the wellbeing of people in the community. "Every bit helps make Waitaki a better place to live and play." In addition to the sponsorship awards, Network Waitaki is also a continued sponsor of the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter and the new Network Waitaki Events Centre. Applications for Network Waitaki's Individual Sporting Programme are open until September 30 and can be made through its website. Individuals can apply for financial support for personal participation, either locally or at representative level, or for skills development in a chosen field such as music, arts or sport. — APL
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"We want to connect those caring for the land with investors who support conservation." This week, Christchurch-based business consultancy Ekos launched its own biodiversity credit scheme, BioCredita, where investors can purchase bundles of credits to fund nature projects, including Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, a fenced eco-sanctuary in Waikato. The project, covering 3363 hectares, costs $5000 daily to run and is hoping to fund operations through credits or units priced at $12 each, representing the cost of protecting one hundredth of a hectare. The first buyer, according to Ekos' chief executive Sean Weaver, is a window manufacturer "who liked the idea of selling biodiversity-enriched windows". "They can't do much biodiversity conservation in the factory, but they can support a nearby project, which is what they've done," Weaver told Country Life. Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. The Ekos credits are measured, independently verified and registered, and the project monitored to ensure operators do what they say they're doing, Weaver said. "We've built a standard called the Ecos SD standard, which defines all of the things you need to do in order to demonstrate the benefits that you're delivering. And then we've built a registry, a digital registry on blockchain technology, so that these units can be issued once they've been verified to the standard, and then they can be tracked and traced across." Weaver stresses the credits, unlike carbon credits, are not for use to offset damage to the environment. The Maungatautari project is among several pilot projects which the government is hoping to learn from. Others include a Silver Fern Farms project and Te Toa Whenua Northland which is transitioning around 100 ha from exotic forestry to native trees and includes pest control on iwi-owned land. 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"Principles like transparency, so that the buyer knows exactly what they're buying; additionality, so that what they're buying is clearly an additional benefit from what would have happened otherwise; longevity, so that the action or the outcome will occur over a longish period of time." A central registry for the credits is something they will be considering too, he said. Weaver describes credits as a variation on philanthropy. "Are they commodifying nature? No, they're not. They're commodifying the human labour and technology cost to look after nature. So no nature is being traded in these credits." It's not a goldrush Johnston said biodiversity credits could work well for farmers and landowners working collaboratively, say, in catchment groups, to fund things like fencing and pest control. "One of the things I'm really keen we test is how you can do this in a way that is cost effective. "We know that examples of projects that are using international verification, for example, can be quite costly, and we want to find ways to make this an available tool in New Zealand for New Zealand circumstances." Weaver said the Ekos credits, which are tradeable, should not be seen as a goldrush, but essentially a form of sustainable financing. "Everybody in the value chain, in our programme has to make a profit, but nobody is allowed to make a super profit, like an unjustifiable super profit. "The main reason for that is that the end-user of biodiversity credits is buying a conservation outcome, and they want to be confident that they're funding the true cost of looking after the place, and not funding, you know, somebody's super profit that will help them just buy another yacht." "Projects still need to go out and hunt for buyers, and our system is a new net to go fishing for that money," Weaver said. Learn more:
