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Please Help Us Build A Field Base | Community Hub

  • First Delivery On Site

      3 October 2020
    Posted by: Jude Hooson
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    On Thursday we waited anxiously outside the front gates to Mahakirau Forest. We heard the truck and trailer making its way up the narrow, windy 309 Road long before it came into view. The driver looked slightly traumatised, and then relieved, to be off the gravel and into the safety of the Estate!

    Our first delivery was the two Royal Wolf containers - one to house the storage facility and community tool shed; the second the education facility. Both are now securely located on their foundations ready for the internal fit out.

    The crew from Stop Digging have installed the screw pile foundations in preparation for the modular pod which arrives early next week.

    There will still be a lot to do (including further fundraising!) but it is extremely motivating to see the first of the dwellings nestled on the site and uplifting to imagine them in use.

    Many thanks for coming with us on this journey.

    Ngā mihi maioha,

    The MFESI Community

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  • Delivery Day Is Fast Approaching!

      17 September 2020
    Posted by: Jude Hooson
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    Construction is well under way on our modular pod with the roof on, cladding starting to go on, and the vents having been installed for the Lunos ventilation system. So it is well on track to be delivered in 2.5 weeks’ time!

    Royal Wolf will be completing our containers next week, installing windows and doors and then painting them for delivery by the end of September.

    Our ground based crew are getting everything ready on the site, digging in foundations posts and undertaking the final clearing required.

    It is so thrilling to see this project coming together - and not before time! Our Auckland Zoo partners are planning their next Northern Striped Gecko monitoring visit and this time they are bringing their film crew. No pressure!

    We are continuing to seek funding to complete the solar, interiors and landscaping work and have our fingers crossed for a recent funding application we've submitted to supplement the widespread support we've gratefully received through our GiveALittle crowdfunding.

    Ngā mihi maioha,

    The MFESI Community

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  • A Kiwi Blessing

      9 September 2020
    Posted by: Jude Hooson
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    It appears that Mahakirau Forest kiwi have given our Field Base | Community Hub site their blessing too. As our project team went down to set out the site and prepare the foundations for the containers, they spotted these kiwi footprints in the cleared ground.

    It is so thrilling to think that we could be having an educational event on this site and hear kiwi calling nearby. A full immersion experience!

    The work continues on the containers and the modular pod and we have just submitted a further funding application to help us with the purchase of our off grid solar system.

    Sadly the Waikato Home & Garden Show has been postponed until November, so the pod will now come straight to Mahakirau Forest when complete. We expect this will be early October.

    With the arrival of Spring, we'll be focusing on the site planting. One of our crew is learning about permaculture, so we are keen to apply these principles to an adjacent community vege garden and food forest.

    Being located in a forest, there is no shortage of native trees to attract the birds, but we will still be considering this in our planting so we have educational opportunities on our doorstep.

    You might have noticed that we have extended our funding deadline by request of potential donors who had missed the cut off!

    Many thanks for your support of this project - it has been so heartwarming to experience this generosity - particularly in such difficult times.

    Ngā mihi maioha,

    The MFESI Community

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  • The Groundwork Has Been Laid

      25 August 2020
    Posted by: Jude Hooson
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    We're so grateful for the kindness of friends, partners and strangers in helping to raise the final 15% of funding to get our ambitious project underway.

    In the last couple of weeks, we have had a digger in to clear the building site, lay culverts, dig trenches and gravel the main entrance driveway.

    Our project leader, Tim, couldn't resist the opportunity to join in on some of the large-ish machinery work and spent a happy couple of hours on a roller compacting the drive last Saturday!

    We have placed the orders for the two containers, (which should arrive in 4-6 weeks) and for the modular pod which should be delivered in the first week of October.

    All going to plan, the modular pod company, EcoPod, is going to exhibit our pod and showcase our project at the Waikato Home & Garden Show 1st -4th October 2020, being held at Claudelands Arena, Hamilton. This will be a great opportunity to promote conservation to a wider audience, but of course is very dependent on everyone being able to stay safe in this strange pandemic we're living through.

    Meanwhile the work of our tireless predator control team continues and the most exciting development has been the return of kiwi to our forest after an absence of several years. At least 5 kiwi have been heard calling at Mahakirau recently and we have sightings of kiwi footprints and probes at several locations. This is a real tribute to the intensity of our multi-species predator control programme that has encompassed a focus on stoats for almost 20 years.

    We’re into the final week of our fundraising campaign with a target of $17k, so thanks once again for your much-appreciated contribution and for sharing this project with your family, friends and networks.

    Ngā mihi maioha,

    The MFESI Community

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  • The Journey To Create This Precious Facility Has Begun

      13 August 2020
    Posted by: Jude Hooson
    Main image

    Kia ora koutou

    Your generous support for our Field Base | Community Hub has enabled us to get started, and our site blessing was held on a recent cold wintery morning, fortuitously timed between periods of driving rain!

    Our Project leader, Tim Hooson, has set out the site in preparation for levelling and gravelling work some time in the next two weeks. We thought you might a virtual guided tour by Tim explaining how the Field Base | Community Hub will be positioned on site.

    We have now raised a quarter of our GiveALittle target and with Conservation Week coming up next week, we'll be working hard to try and reach our goal of $25,000.

    We are so thankful for your contribution, and for coming with us on this exciting journey.

    Ngā mihi nui

    THE MAHAKIRAU FOREST ESTATE COMMUNITY

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