Western Bay Wildlife Trust (WBWT) is a community based conservation trust dedicated to the protection of wildlife and native ecosystems in the Western Bay of Plenty Region. 

WBWT was founded following the MV Rena oil spill near Tauranga, in October 2011. Joining forces to monitor and study how wildlife populations would recover from such a natural disaster, the founding trustees hoped to raise awareness of threats to wildlife and inform local management and conservation initiatives. Today, the mission of the trust remains the same: to protect and improve the habitats of local native and endemic seabird and shorebird species for future generations.

Objectives

We’re on a mission to:

1) Improve seabird and shorebird populations by studying the breeding success of kororā (little blue penguin), ōi (grey-faced petrel), and tūturiwhatu (Northern New Zealand dotterel).

2) Improve Wildlife habitats by undertaking predator control, habitat restoration and regular clean-ups to remove all rubbish polluting their land-based nesting sites.

3) Engage our community by inspiring people to get involved and make a difference and providing education.

How to Help

Volunteer opportunities include habitat clean-ups, habitat monitoring, predator control and planting over winter. Get in touch, sign up to our newsletter and/or like us on Facebook to stay informed about our working bees. We also offer “Sponsor a Species” schemes if you want to boost your support by helping us in a monetary way, or if you are after a meaningful gift for a loved one.

Find out more

Check out the links below to find out more about Western Bay Wildlife Trust, and/or want to get involved.