Bringing corporate sustainability back to grass roots

Industrial testing and monitoring company, SGS, believes sustainability works best when employees get involved in local activity. The global organisation has put this philosophy into action by supporting Project Kiwi Trust, a community initiated kiwi conservation project on the Coromandel's Kuaotunu Peninsula.

In addition to the financial support SGS provides as a gold level sponsor, staff from the company's Waihi laboratory enjoy hands-on volunteer work for Project Kiwi Trust. The Trust works to protect Coromandel North Island Brown Kiwi by trapping predators and lifting eggs to hatch and rear chicks in captivity until they are big enough to defend themselves against mustelids (weasels, stoats and ferrets).

While SGS expertise is used to sample and test Kuaotunu stream-water, staff and their families have taken on core conservation tasks such as transporting kiwi chicks for return, helping with beach clean ups, track building and assisting with nocturnal kiwi-call surveys. Their enthusiastic participation is welcomed by Project Kiwi Trust's resident project manager Paula Williams.

"A lot of kiwi conservation work is undertaken by volunteers. We've been very successful over the 14 years we've been operating and the knowledge we've gained about predator control and helping kiwi chicks thrive is being transferred to other conservation projects around New Zealand.  Our volunteers are vital components of the continued success of the operation-we simply couldn't do it without them."