Help Us

How you can help

Volunteer – Research Studies – Donate. Those are the ways you can help us. Just contact us and start a dialogue.

Volunteer - Predator Control Motupohue and Surrounding areas

It's a family affair. Brian Sheppard (cleaning bait station), with son Allister and grandson Gabriel, working Line N.We rely 100% on volunteers to run the Trust and its projects.

• Work control lines. Clearing, rebaiting, cleaning out traps and stations. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly. Takes 2-4 hours depending on the control line. On your first day out, an experienced line worker will train you on your line. We provide basic tools and equipment. Exercise, fresh air and bird songs. Satisfaction in finding pests in our traps. Be a solo worker or put a team together who alternate work periods. Fitness level: moderate to high.
• Clear overgrown vegetation and fallen debris from control lines. There’s no regular schedule. Takes 2 or more hours depending on the control line. Plenty of exercise, fresh air and bird songs. You’ll need to supply your own chain saw; we supply hand tools and a track guide. Fitness level: moderate to high.

Volunteer - Back Yard Trapping with Protect the Bluff!Predator Free NZ Backyard Trap

The aim of Bluff backyard trapping is to provide a predator free barrier in the township of Bluff, protecting the Hill. Providing a predator free gateway to the Titi islands and Rakiura. It will also ensure that generations to come will be able to enjoy abundant birdlife in their gardens. This will be achieved by encouraging, educating and empowering the residences of Bluff through Protect the Bluff Backyard Trapping.

The Trust decided to finally get the Protect the Bluff Backyard Trapping off the ground. Debbie Fife put up her hand to spearhead the project & enlisted a team of helpers. Estelle Leask obtained funding from Predatorfree NZ and named the project Protect the Bluff.

Middle of July 2020 and we had a pet friendly rat trap and everything put in place ready to go. By the middle of August we had 39 existing trappers and 100 new trappers registered, which far exceeded our target of 100 by Christmas. Forward to March 2021 & we have 240 traps in the community and have seen the capture of the 100th rat in the town.

The feedback and buy in from the community has been overwhelming, it has given residences who otherwise could not help on the hill with pest control the opportunity to help within the community with the trapping.

Protect the Bluff Backyard Trapping is a long term project that will take 3 to 4 years to reach the saturation point for traps, it will then be an ongoing and combined effort for many years of the Trust and the residences of Bluff working together to achieve the vision of a Predatorfree Bluff and Motupōhue. If the first 3 months are anything to go by it will be a very rewarding journey.

Welcome to Protect The Bluff! Watch this movie to learn about who we are and what to do with your chew cards, your trap, and your results. https://youtu.be/lMhmh1LDwJ8

Volunteer - Planting & Restoration

Brian, Anne and Amber digging in for a beautiful day Planting at Stirling Point 2018We not only hold regular Planting Days but our volunteers meet up to help other organistions in our area too.

• Planting Days run between 1 to 4 hours, usually on Bluff Hill. The day can include digging holes, planting trees, releasing existing plantings or just general maintance on site. Fitness Level: low to moderate
• See all planned Planting events:
  • on our facebook page or .
  • email our team at
• BHMET is also part of the the Invercargill City Councils Plant Our Populution Goal! If youd like to be contacted about planting days, register here: https://icc.govt.nz/plant-our-population-registration-form/.

Volunteer - Projects, Adminstration & Fundraising

BHMET Trustees Estelle, Debbie and Annichje with Volunteers Ricky, Ray Nikki and AnneThere is a heap to do in the background, so we are always keen to meet people who have special skills and who like to share them!.

• BHMET has over 20 projects going at anyone time and that takes some serious coordination! If youd like to lend a hand with building, project planning, statistics, video dairies or even website maintance - we’d love to meet you!
• Research a topic important to us and gather articles and other information and/or provide an annotated summary of your findings. Contact us for a list of research topics.
• Become a Trustee. There are 7 positions allowed on the Board of Trustees. The Board is the governing body of the Trust. A Trusteeship lasts for one year and is renewed each year at our Annual Governing and Planning Meeting. To become a Trustee you must qualify according to the guidelines set forth by the Charities Commission then interview with and be unanimously voted in by the current Trustees. Get in touch and, if a Trustee position is open, we’ll set up an interview.

Research Studies

We welcome individuals, students, groups and organisations to conduct conservation research studies on Bluff Hill. We’ll work with you in any way we can to make your research study successful. All we ask is that you share your results with us and leave the Hill’s environment as you found it (in other words, please clean up after and remove any supplies or equipment). Our volunteers have a thorough knowledge of the Bluff Hill environment and can act as guides to the area. If your study is closely aligned with our work, the Trust would consider providing supplies or financial assistance. Contact us with a proposal about your research study.

Donate

The Trust has donee status so all donations are tax deductible.

• Donate materials and supplies. Here’s our wish list.
• Sponsor a trap/bait station, control line or hectare for a year. You can keep up with our quarterly catch statistics on our News page.
• Make a monetary donation.