News article

The Department of Conservation needs your help to clean up the litter released from the Fox Glacier Landfill before the spring rains come and wash the litter into the ocean, and the marine reserves inhabited by Hectors dolphins and penguins.

We need at least 90 volunteers a day to help alongside DOC and the Defence Force and can provide accommodation and food in exchange for your efforts. If you can come for a number of days and have some time off, or want to take the long road home, there is much to see and enjoy around Fox Glacier.

The South West of New Zealand is one the great natural areas of the world. It is internationally recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Within this area lies Westland Tai Poutini National Park. From mountain to sea, it has landscapes of untouched beauty and is a stronghold for rare plants and animals living in a range of habitats.

• The only naturally occurring population of the nationally vulnerable rowi/Ōkārito brown kiwi (New Zealand’s rarest kiwi) occurs within the Park, confined to an area of lowland forest near Ōkārito and surrounds.
• Ōkārito Lagoon is famous for the stunning kōtuku/white heron.
• The threatened kāmana/crested grebe, can be found on Lake Māpōurika
• The wetland systems near the Ōkārito and Pouerua Hāpua/Saltwater lagoons are nationally and internationally important for their freshwater and estuarine conservation values.
• Kea are common throughout the park, and the forest is alive with birdlife.
• The nationally endangered the South Island Hector’s dolphin is found along the West Coast’s amazing coastline

More information and how to register can be found on our website https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/volunteer/in-your-region/west-coast/operation-tidy-fox/

Spring floods are our concern, and we really need to get as many people as possible out on the river helping to clear the litter as soon as possible. The marine wildlife and iconic West Coast beaches are at risk if we don’t clear it in time.