Today, 35 finalists have been announced for WWF-New Zealand’s 2017 Conservation Innovation Awards, including from Far North, Auckland, Raglan, Hamilton, East Coast, Waikanae, Martinborough, Palmerston North, Wanganui, Wellington, Upper Hutt, Dunedin, Nelson and Christchurch.

There were 47 entries logged from Kiwis across the country. Winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony in Wellington on 22 November.

Meet your 2017 Conservation Innovation Awards Finalists (listed per region):

  1. Hannah Smith Auckland Ur-bins (Urban Rat compost Bins)
  2. Leigh Nicholson, Auckland Hanging Gardens of New Zealand – The new wonder of the modern world
  3. Andrew Lee, Auckland Restoration Drone for Polluted Waterways
  4. Michael Fielding, Auckland The Urban Rat Project
  5. Steven MacLeod, Auckland A data collective allowing communities to collaborate and share knowledge, leading to better community engagement and more Tui
  6. Sam Lindsay, Auckland Permanent Forest Bond – A Better Way to Finance Permanent Forest in Aotearoa
  7. Dan Ducker, Auckland, Tend your Planet/War On Weeds
  8. Paul White, Far North Te Rarawa Noho Taiao: Growing the next generation of Iwi environmental leaders
  9. Nigel Binks, Hamilton Investigating the weird, wonderful and sometimes freaky biodiversity of the Waikato: Engaging community, iwi and schools in biodiversity science
  10. Kevin Bain, Hamilton One self-resetting trap that kills both Possums and Rats
  11. Ecologist BW, Hamilton Autonomous Weed Eaters
  12. Jennifer Mcguire, Raglan Kiwi Trailblazers
  13. Maha Fier, Waikanae WALL-E 2.0
  14. Joanne Jackson, Martinborough Swimming with e-coli
  15. Chris Muller, Palmerston North The Drone Ranger – an aerial wildlife tracking system
  16. Allan Anderson, Wanganui Hihi Feeders – “Capture, Identify, Advocate: Bringing Species back from the Brink”
  17. Jack O’Carroll, Palmerston North The KOTAHI project
  18. Dani Lebo, Whanganui Make Every School a Forest School
  19. James Prier, Wellington Compost and catch, spreading the predator free movement
  20. Abby Robertson, Wellington Supermarket for Surplus Food to Reduce NZ’s Food Wastage
  21. Gerald Dickinson, Ngaio, Wellington Thermal Imaging to unmask what is in my backyard
  22. Marty Taylor, Wellington Te Wānanga Papa Taiao Pāuaua / Earthcare Enterprise Academies
  23. Pavel Plotinnov, Wellington Ultimate Domestic growing machine
  24. Chris Fink, Wellington Rooftop biodiversity hotspots
  25. Jordan Munn, Upper Hutt, TADS (Thermal Animal Detection Systems)
  26. Manu Caddie, New Zealand Māori Carbon Farming Cooperative
  27. Shannon Weaver, Dunedin Restoring the oceans abundance using seawater electrolysis- a marine conservation initiative
  28. Nathalie Wierdak, Dunedin Guardians of Zealandia
  29. Gemma McGrath, Otago Fluke & Flipper: Enhancing the Hector’s Dolphin Sightings App
  30. Jeremy Stead Nelson The Baleen Filter – Preventing Plastic Microfibres from entering our oceans–
  31. Christine Cleveland, Nelson Eco-Zoning
  32. Daniel Cutmore, Christchurch D.I.Y SmartGarden
  33. Kirsty Brennan, Christchurch STREAMED – A community-based online water clarity monitoring tool
  34. Grantryan New Zealand (Cacophony project Collaborative high tech solutions to make predator elimination thousands of times more efficient
  35. Squawk Squad Squawk Squad

Congratulations to all the 2017 Awards finalists!

The Conservation Innovation Awards will reward innovative environmental game-changers. Designed to help innovators fast-track their ideas to development, the Awards cover three categories – Engaging young people and communities, Predator Free New Zealand 2050, and an Open Category. A prize package of $25,000 will be awarded to each category winner.

The 2017 Awards are supported by The Tindall Foundation, Department of Conservation, Callaghan Innovation, Predator Free 2050 Ltd and New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge.