funding & support

Tutukaka, New Zealand

The Petrel Station seabird research project is already recording some impressive at-sea seabird sighting results, and to ensure complete year-round sighting records are gathered we need to get out regularly, with an ideal goal of once a week.

funding the project

The Petrel Station seabird research project is a long-term citizen science project being run in conjunction with our eco-tourism pelagic seabird tours where people come along for a great day out with the stunning seabirds (these tours are highly regarded within the international bird community as one of the best pelagic seabird tours anywhere in the world).

A project of this size, heading out far offshore on a regular basis, isn’t cheap to undertake.

To date the research is currently partially funded by people coming out on The Petrel Station seabird tours, so everyone who comes along is helping towards making this research possible. But this relies on tours being fully booked to help partially cover our operational costs. If not enough people book it means that tour could be cancelled, and therefore any potential research data from the day is missed, which is not ideal for the research.The biggest seasonal impact of this is during autumn and winter when the seabird activity is fantastic but people come out on the tours less, and birders from overseas generally aren’t over here on vacation. For this reason we currently put on fewer seabird tours during these times (compared to spring and summer), so at present there is less data recorded during these 2 seasons.

With our research goal being to get out once a week, throughout the year to ensure data captured is as complete as possible, we will require additional funding (as the seabird tours don’t cover all the costs), which will help to ensure the research project can achieve its long-term goals. Our approach to this will be seeking support from corporates, philanthropists, individuals, and some organisational grants, who would like to help out the project.

seeking support for the project

We are currently seeking support and contributions to help us cover the basic operational costs of each trip. This will enable us to get out regularly throughout the year and undertake the seabird research regardless of how many people are booked on a tour.

This is a great opportunity for any corporate, philanthropist, or individual to align with a very unique environmental focused research project, dedicated to seabird understanding, conservation and awareness. For a company or organisation this will also enhance your reputation as a socially responsible and environmentally conscious brand and business.

Any level of donation support would be of great help and benefit to the seabird project.

For large contributions there are plenty of promotional opportunities and additional benefits in being associated with our environmental project – please get in touch to discuss options.

Let’s talk

If you, or your company, is looking for a great environmental cause to support and connect with, and The Petrel Station research project seems like a good fit, then we’d love to hear from you. We’re happy to discuss support and contribution options, and associated benefits, with people or companies based within New Zealand or internationally.

Funding support will enable:

Research trips to always go ahead (regardless of number of people booked for a seabird tour) so seabird sightings data is collected regularly throughout the year. This funding will help cover the basic operational costs associated with the project.
The establishment of a youth initiative to allow students studying relevant academic fields to come out to The Petrel Station at a reduced cost (and ultimately free). When separate funding can be sourced we’d like to implement this opportunity as we’d love to see this initiative as part of the project.

Flow on benefits to the local economy

The Petrel Station seabird tours and research project is also helping inject tourism spending into the local economy (on the Tutukaka Coast and greater Northland region), which is benefiting local businesses such as charters, accommodation, restaurants etc. Due to the the global reputation of the seabird tours people are coming to Tutukaka to participate on the tours from around New Zealand, and all over the world.

People come along on The Petrel Station tours, from NZ and around the world, and their participation with sightings also helps make this research possible, and help in creating valuable seabird awareness. So book on a seabird tour out to The Petrel Station for a unique seabird experience, and know you’re helping the research too.

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