100 Years on Cawthron vision draws closer at Brook Sancutary

The Cawthron Trust Board has announced a $150,000 grant towards the planned pest proof fence at the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary.

The grant comes exactly 100 years after Nelson benefactor Thomas Cawthron gifted a large block of land to Nelson city, with the intention it should become a wildlife reserve.

Cawthron Trust Chair Bob Dickinson says the Board recognises the immense community benefits that will derive from this visionary conservation project.

“Not only does it further wildlife conservation for the region, it offers outstanding opportunities for science and environmental education for the entire region’s schools,” he said. “We believe Thomas Cawthron would be very pleased to see this project go forward, as it was his original intention for the land he donated to Nelson City a hundred years ago to be a wildlife reserve.”

The original Cawthron Park is adjacent to the Sanctuary, covering the Wooded Peak area at the headwaters of the Roding and South Branch Maitai River. One of the clauses in the deed gifting the land stated ‘That the reserve be a sanctuary for native flora and fauna, especially bird life, and that the destruction of birds within it be strictly prohibited’.

Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Trust Chair Dave Butler said the grant was timely on two fronts.

“It’s fantastic to have this support from the Cawthron Trust as we head into 2013, our key year for fundraising to build the 14km pest-proof fence,” he said. “The timing is particularly appropriate as we plan for construction of the fence to start in late 2013, exactly 100 years after Thomas Cawthron donated nearby land to the city.”

Hudson Dodd, sanctuary general manager, added that every grant took the sanctuary project another step towards its goal of being a major tourist attraction for the region.

“As our recently commissioned independent feasibility study shows, this project has great potential for economic development in the region, in addition to playing a crucial role in recovering globally unique native wildlife species that are critically endangered with extinction.”

Thomas Cawthron was a wealthy Nelson merchant who was a major benefactor in Nelson in the late 19th century. On his death in 1915 he left £231,000 to set up Cawthron Institute, which now has over 180 staff working mainly in the areas of seafood, coastal and freshwater research and scientific services.

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