I returned to Hawkes’s Bay in 2017 after 13 years away. I was hugely optimistic about what was happening in the conservation space with progress at the Cape Sanctuary, Boundary Stream and now Mahia, alongside stories out of Urban Wellington, I felt for sure the broader community would be mobilised throughout Hawke’s Bay to support the Predator Free 2050 goal.
Sadly I found that was not the case and I have wondered why since that time. In the end I decided there was no single answer and the best I could do was to put my own foot forward and help drive some initiatives I felt would be complimentary to the advancement of a more involved, more proactive, and more conservation minded, Hawke’s Bay community.
My effort falls well behind in time, effort and financial resources of visionaries like Julian Robertson and Andy Lowe, however there is nothing to stop us as a community having just as great an impact, and a complimentary one at that, on the diversity and robustness of the wildlife in and around Hawke’s Bay – starting of course here on Napier hill.
There are many, many truly good people in Hawke’s Bay working hard to conserve space and species (both Flora and fauna), and many others I am sure wanting to but not sure how best to contribute. I am proud to be a QEII trust covenantor, establishing a remnant site at Bay View from 1996-2004 with my previous wife, but understand many don’t have the opportunity to make such contributions.
I am hopeful that groups such as PFUHB can create an opportunity for almost anyone to contribute and lead a groundswell of communities committed to bettering their environment; for all native flora and fauna, for themselves and for the future citizens of Hawke’s Bay.
Richard Croad
May 2019
Predator Free Urban HB 