New Zealand prides itself on its natural wonders, but keeping them clean and green depends on turning curious visitors from around the world into advocates for conservation. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Once a year, Aotearoa\/New Zealand<\/a> comes to a halt. A debate rages around dinner tables the country over, workplace watercooler chats take a serious turn and an uncharacteristically fiery competitive spirit takes hold among Kiwis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The people are flocking to vote for their favourite bird.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Intrepid Foundation partner Forest & Bird<\/a>\u2019s annual Bird of the Year competition<\/a> has captured hearts, imaginations and headlines the world over with its playful approach to engaging the public with New Zealand\u2019s beloved native birds and raising awareness of the threats they face.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s caught so much attention that a year without tongue-in-cheek allegations of voter fraud and international interference was described by The Guardian as \u2018unusually sedate<\/a>\u2019. But while it might be Forest & Bird\u2019s most well-known campaign, there\u2019s a whole lot more to this Intrepid Foundation partner than their name suggests.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To use its formal name, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand is the country\u2019s largest independent conservation organisation. But as the organisation\u2019s corporate fundraiser Alex Moyes puts it, \u2018we do a lot more than forests and birds.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The organisation has been speaking, standing and acting for New Zealand\u2019s wildlife and wild places for more than 100 years, and their work involves anything that protects and restores nature, explains Alex. \u2018We represent species and beautiful natural areas that don\u2019t have their own voice, and make sure they\u2019re heard at all levels of government as well as doing on-the-ground conservation work.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Forest & Bird manages 1482 hectares of reserves and has 140 active projects, to which 14,000 volunteers gave more than 44,500 hours of their time in 2023. These projects span dune lake ecosystems in New Zealand\u2019s Far North to penguin reserves in the deep south, planting along fresh waterways and protecting coastal nesting sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Our history has been volunteer power, and that\u2019s still the case today,\u2019 says Alex. \u2018It takes a real labour of love to work in conservation.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Along with trapping pests, weeding, regenerating land and monitoring species, those same volunteers are also behind the soaring success of the Bird of the Year competition \u2013 a grassroots campaign first started in 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018The real driving force behind it is the campaign managers,\u2019 says Alex. Eager individuals, groups and organisations sign up each year to advocate for their bird of choice, and their creative efforts reliably capture the attention of the wider voting public.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s become bigger than us now too. Which is amazing, because you can\u2019t make something like that up. You can\u2019t force it \u2013 it has to develop over time.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, the hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin) \u2013 having been endorsed by Dr Jane Goodall \u2013 won its second title, just pipping the karure (black robin) and fellow two-time champ, the k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But that doesn\u2019t compare to the craziness of 2023 when comedian John Oliver approached Forest & Bird about running a campaign for the p\u016bteketeke. While most campaign managers stick to setting up social media accounts for their bird of choice, Oliver put up billboards in London, Paris, Tokyo and Mumbai, made TV appearances in a bird costume and flew a banner over Brazil\u2019s iconic Ipanema Beach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Anyone around the globe can vote in the competition, and they do \u2013 in droves. Thanks to Oliver\u2019s campaigning, the 2023 competition drew more than 350,000 votes from 195 countries.\u00a0Alex isn\u2019t surprised.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Birds resonate so much because people often have memories of them as children or a connection to a place, and place[s] and bird species go together,\u2019 she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018New Zealand is very famous for its birds because many of them are found nowhere else in the world. So it\u2019s important that we protect them.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n While the bird memes have their moments, the competition has a serious purpose, too: getting the conservation message in front of the wider public. You\u2019ll often find Forest & Bird in the courtroom or advocating in New Zealand\u2019s halls of power, keeping companies and politicians honest about the impact of their work and policies on the country\u2019s ecosystems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Even then, Forest & Bird doesn\u2019t blame you for thinking they have it easy. In 2024, Tourism New Zealand celebrated the 25th year of its \u2018100% Pure New Zealand\u2019 campaign \u2013 and if the country has indeed been that pure for that long, what is there left for Forest & Bird to do?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Actually, it\u2019s not a great story when you look at some of the statistics around biodiversity loss and climate change,\u2019 says Alex.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n According to figures released in 2023, more than 75 per cent of New Zealand\u2019s indigenous reptile, bird, bat and freshwater fish species groups<\/a> are threatened with extinction or are at risk of becoming threatened. A 2024 report advised that New Zealand\u2019s rivers \u2018continue to show widespread ecological health concerns<\/a>.\u2019 And all the while, politicians are saying that \u2018if there is a mining opportunity and it\u2019s impeded by a blind frog, goodbye, Freddy<\/a>.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re very realistic about the state of things. That\u2019s why we exist, you know? We don\u2019t want to be negative about it, but we want to be realistic,\u2019 says Alex.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I think we just want to move people a bit further towards the understanding [that] each person can do something, however small or big it is, to make a change.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n That down-to-earth approach helps to explain why Forest & Bird have partnered with The Intrepid Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n At first glance, travel and conservation have a complicated relationship. For most people, it takes a few emission-heavy flights to reach New Zealand, but on the other hand, nothing generates the buy-in to conserve our natural spaces like experiencing them firsthand.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018So, then, what?\u2019 asks Alex. \u2018How do we work with what we\u2019ve got to inspire people to take action for the environment, to be more conscious? How do we understand better how the tourism industry works, and how do we work in that space to make improvements and be a force for good as well?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Enter The Intrepid Foundation. In addition to the help that donations<\/a> provide, there\u2019s an alignment between Forest & Bird\u2019s conservation mission and curious Intrepid travellers looking to give back to the places they visit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Intrepid travellers learn about Forest & Bird\u2019s work on trips in New Zealand<\/a> and how they can support it. One of those travellers, Laurel, donated NZ$50 while still on her trip, describing how she was \u2018enjoying a great trip in New Zealand right now and want[ed] to support beautiful nature and communities.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n That shared appreciation for conservation is, well, natural, according to Alex.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018It symbolises how much bigger nature is than all of us,\u2019 she explains. \u2018We\u2019re all part of the same ecosystem of Earth. If you think about the environment and the action that we want to take to protect and restore it \u2013 it\u2019s going to take everyone.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Forest & Bird hasn\u2019t set out to garner that kind of international attention \u2013 whether through its Bird of the Year competition or travellers visiting from overseas. \u2018But we\u2019re really embracing the fact that we do have that connection because nature isn\u2019t separate from us \u2013 we are part of it,\u2019 Alex says.\u00a0<\/p>\n By working to understand and safeguard New Zealand\u2019s natural wonders, travellers are rewarded with more than just world-renowned views. Naturally, those spaces provide a sense of safety in return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Birds are a helpful indication of the health of our ecosystem,\u2019 Alex says. \u2018When you hear birdsong, [it denotes] safety. [It sends] a message to your nervous system that you\u2019re OK, because birds don\u2019t sing if they\u2019re not safe.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n The Bird of the Year competition might encourage us to play a game of favourites, but when thousands of people come together in support of conservation, ultimately, everyone wins.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Learn more about <\/strong>Forest & Bird<\/strong><\/a> and find your own responsible Intrepid trip in <\/strong>New Zealand<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Zealand prides itself on its natural wonders, but keeping them clean and green depends on turning curious visitors from around the world into advocates for conservation. \u00a0 Once a year, Aotearoa\/New Zealand comes to a halt. A debate rages around dinner tables the country over, workplace watercooler chats take a serious turn and an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11760],"tags":[3029,6877,5515,11293,3644],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-117373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","tag-bird","tag-conservation","tag-forest","tag-spreading","tag-word"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/The-Intrepid-Foundation-NewZealand-Wetland-at-Ship-Creek-South-Westland-TIF-partner-FB-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nMore than forests and birds<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
The election that stops a nation<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/The-Intrepid-Foundation-NewZealand-kakariki-red-crowned-parakeet-chicks-TIF-partner-ForestBird.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIt\u2019s not all flora and fauna, and it\u2019s not all fun and games<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/The-Intrepid-Foundation-NewZealand-nature-walk-at-Tawharanui-Regional-Park-TIF-partner-Forest-Bird.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nThe first shoots of an international effort<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Do you hear that?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n