OceanaGold, which operates the Macraes mine, confirmed a donation of $60,000 to Orokonui Ecosanctuary yesterday.
The donation was matched by the World Gold Council, meaning the sanctuary received a total of $120,000.
OceanaGold chief executive Gerard Bond said both organisations had a shared interest in ‘‘doing our bit for the environment and biodiversity’’.
‘‘What the ecosanctuary is doing is providing safe sanctuary for all manner of species. I got to see my very first kaka and takahē today, which is very special, which wouldn’t have been here without their work.
‘‘And then equally around the mine, we have an enormous amount of landscapes that we are looking to do our best to preserve and rehabilitate in due course.’’
There was a ‘‘mutual benefit’’ to the organisations working together, Mr Bond said, and he wanted the donation to be substantial.
‘‘We’re able to provide a meaningful amount of money to this really admirable institution to advance their causes, and some of that is about bringing what they are doing to the community.’’
This could include expanding the ecosanctuary’s outreach, Mr Bond said.
‘‘One of the things that they’re going to do is see if they can bus in and provide transport in for school kids from some regions that might not otherwise have the ability to get here.
‘‘It’s a very popular place, rightly so, for school groups, but not all schools have the wherewithal to find their way here.’’
The ecosanctuary was established in 2007, but science communicator Taylor Davies-Colley said the project was ‘‘multi-generational’’.
‘‘What this funding means is that we can just keep continuing the good work, keep things moving, and Orokonui is something that is a multi-generational project.
‘‘It’ll continue long after any of us are involved in it, but this support gives us confidence to keep the programmes we have going, to keep ourselves moving forward, knowing that we can keep the amazing team we have going and supportive.’’
Some of the money would go towards protecting species or improving facilities and some of it would ramp up their education programmes, Mr Davies-Colley said.
‘‘OceanaGold is a huge employer in coastal Otago, and the workers are families in our local community, living from up in Oamaru [to] down to Dunedin and everywhere in between.
‘‘And they are the people who are not only kind of part of our local catchment, but they’re people who live in areas where as wildlife expands out of the sanctuary, it’ll be heading to their backyards and their gardens and where they live. That’s why this partnership works.’’
