If New Zealanders can create a better world for birds, they will have gone a long way towards improving the environment for all indigenous biodiversity, Conservation Minister Poto Williams says.
Ms Williams was yesterday at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, in Dunedin, for Conservation Week, which runs this year until Sunday.
This year’s theme was a recognition that even small acts of conservation were important, she said.
"In an urban environment, what do we do about ensuring that we control our pets, what do we do about supporting our predator work in terms of rats and stoats and mustelids ...
"Everyone can do something, whether it’s planting a native tree, whether it’s doing a rubbish clean-up, or whether it’s actually getting involved with places like this, making a donation, or just finding out a little bit more about our wildlife.
"All of these things are important," Ms Williams said.
Ms Williams said she had heard the hospital was supported through one-off, yearly funding but had yet to secure core funding.
"We’ve been talking about that this morning, about where they get their funding from, and the relationship they have with the department," she said.
"Given that this is the only hospital of its kind — here in the wildlife capital of New Zealand, as you say — it’s a really important thing to continue to support.
"We are having those discussions so that I can take that away with me when we are making those decisions later in the year."
