Kereru © James Allan
12th December 2024
Ben was a part of Whakatipu Wildlife Trust right from the start and, with his partner Sue, had been involved in conservation in the States as well as New Zealand. Ben had also been a committee member of our local Central Otago Lakes Forest and Bird.
Ben and Sue were involved in a program in the States sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation called the Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. Its goal was to interconnect habitat-friendly backyards, school and business properties to create “wildlife corridors”, especially for pollinators and all the wildlife essential to a healthy ecosystem.
Ben brought that concept to New Zealand when they first started living here back in 2008. His discussions about it with DOC and other folks involved in conservation in many ways birthed the concept of Whakatipu Wildlife Trust. The idea of interconnecting properties with trapping to create a perimeter of safety against predators was one he championed and thus he became one of the first Whakatipu Wildlife Trust members, trustees and advocates.
Watching Whakatipu Wildlife Trust grow over the years and seeing the resulting increase in native bird life was immensely satisfying to him. In more recent years when his health declined Ben traded the more physical aspects of conservation work for instead providing important computer and data support to Whakatipu Wildlife Trust members via Trap NZ. His dedication to conservation never waivered.
The simple concept of creating corridors of natural ecosystems was Ben’s single most important goal and he was very proud of the work Whakatipu Wildlife Trust and other organizations are doing.
For Ben, we must stay the course and keep up our important work.
Ben will be remembered with love and incredibly missed by his Whakatipu Wildlife Trust family.
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