Awesome charity Save the Kiwi is a longtime B:HIVE community member, and many of you will already be aware of the great work they do. This month they have an exciting new month-long campaign, called the Kiwi Art Trail, bringing a collection of uniquely designed and painted kiwi sculptures to Commercial Bay, the Viaduct, Wynyard Quarter, and Silo Park.
The Kiwi Art Trail will run from 9 October until 3 November 2023 and features 20 kiwi sculptures that have been turned into bespoke pieces of art by well-known and emerging New Zealand artists including Otis Frizzell, Flox, Amanda Billing, Sarah Oostendorp and Jonathan Organ. The Kiwi Art Trail is supported by insurance broker Gallagher (who recently rebranded from Crombie Lockwood).
“The Kiwi Art Trail is a great way for people to get up close and personal with a kiwi in a very different way,” says Save the Kiwi Executive Director Michelle Impey.
When the trail ends, the sculptures will be auctioned. Proceeds will go towards raising the next generation of kiwi at the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow, a facility managed by Save the Kiwi that incubates and hatches kiwi chicks and releases them into the wild.
Michelle is excited about the fundraising and awareness opportunities of the Kiwi Art Trail. “New Zealand used to be home to millions of kiwi, but in just a few hundred years, widespread clearing of forest and introduced predators have seen numbers crash,” she says. “Stoats, ferrets, dogs, and other predators pose a great danger to kiwi. Approximately 68,000 remain, a number which declines nationally by 2% every year. Of the kiwi chicks that hatch in areas where there is no predator control, 95% are killed before they reach adulthood. It’s very sobering, and we hope the Kiwi Art Trail will raise awareness about the threats kiwi face and raise much-needed funds to help the next generation of kiwi.”
But there are also many success stories. Michelle says in some areas like Northland and Coromandel, there is actually growth in kiwi numbers, which is testament to the great work of community groups. Earlier in 2023, Save the Kiwi released 50 kiwi to Wellington, and another 50 to Tongariro. Now’s the time to step up and support kiwi conservation.
Check out the trail if you can! For more information, visit www.kiwiarttrail.nz
For info on Gallagher Kiwi Burrow, visit www.savethekiwi.nz/about-us/what-we-do/crombie-lockwood-kiwi-burrow/