This Week

Banner making workshop

This week we are holding a banner making workshop at the Greenpeace office in Auckland. Come to be inspired, to learn, to paint and to meet some new friends. This Thursday August 15th from 6pm.

7 Greenpeace volunteers paint letters onto a large orange banner
Greenpeace volunteers painting a banner for the March for Nature

New volunteer info sessions

If you are new to Greenpeace, or have never been to an orientation before, we have started holding volunteer info sessions. If you are local to Auckland, we hold these in person. If you are spread throughout Aotearoa, they are online. For dates and times check out our community page.

A picture of a Greenpeace boat on the ocean, with the text Öur vision is a green and peaceful world" overlaid.
Volunteer orientation sessions can be in person or online

March for Nature

On June 8th roughly twenty thousand people, from all over Aotearoa, gathered in Aotea Square, Auckland and marched down Queen Street. All marching with a unified message to the Luxon government, collectively declaring that we are taking a stand against the proposed Fast Track Bill. Below is one volunteers reflection of his activism and his involvement in the March for Nature…

A paper mache Luxon-lookalike swings atop a National Party-blue wrecking ball, surrounded by trees
A Prime Minister Christopher Luxon lookalike has been swinging through Auckland atop a National Party-blue wrecking ball to promote the March for Nature protest on 8 June.

Volunteer recap

I am Ryan Thomas, I recently moved from Taranaki to Auckland. Growing up I was a very vocal National supporter, later joining & then became a very active member of the ACT party and ran for the Lower North Island board chair in 2020. Following a perspective shift, I was hit with the realization that all our money will become worthless when the world is on fire. Without a healthy thriving environment, the rest won’t even matter anymore.

I began volunteering with Greenpeace in time for the March for Nature, and have taken part in both this and another project to protect Freshwater regulations which are being jeopardised by Christopher Luxon & the Coalition Fast Track Bill in favour of profit.

Volunteering with Greenpeace allows me to work alongside some amazing people in standing up for the Environment & Wildlife in our Government’s unjust War on Nature.

My favorite part so far of my journey with Greenpeace has been marching up Queen St screaming in to a megaphone and having thousands of like minded passionate people chant back! As Well as all the mischief and camaraderie that comes behind the scenes.

I have no idea what to expect next, but I look forward to providing a voice for the voiceless & doing everything I can to save this beautiful planet we are lucky to inhabit.

March for Nature recap

Leading up to the March:

  • 12+ events
  • 50+ individuals attended
  • 200+ hours spent

Day of the March:

  • 80+ registered volunteers
  • 400+ hours spent

New staff introduction

Kia ora friends, if we haven’t yet met, I’m Charlie Lake and my pronouns are she/her. I am new(ish) in this role, and to Aotearoa. I originally come come from Vancouver Island.

Back in Canada, I spent the last two decades working in the non-profit sector. Working for international organisations like Greenpeace Canada, Surfrider Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity. Now, I am thrilled to have the privilege of working for Greenpeace Aotearoa, based out of Auckland.

While I am in this role, I am also pursuing my PhD in sociology at the University of Auckland. I strongly believe that knowledge without action is useless (and boring). I am super excited to get to meet you all and do some amazing things together!

The Greenpeace volunteer coordinator, Charlie, at a protest on Queen Street. She is surrounded by other volunteers, all wearing orange safety vests.
Charlie, the Greenpeace Community Volunteer Coordinator

Monthly Updates

The intensive dairy industry led by Fonterra is Aotearoa’s worst climate polluter. There are simply too many cows crammed onto the land, emitting huge amounts of methane.

There are more cows on than the land can naturally sustain, so the industry relies heavily on destructive inputs like synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and imported feeds like palm kernel expeller.

Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser is degrading rivers across Aotearoa and contaminating rural people’s drinking water with nitrate. This is why for the past three years Greenpeace Aotearoa has been running water testing events across the country, testing for nitrate contamination in drinking water, and are calling for a ban on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and for our existing freshwater protections to remain in tact.

A person presents in front of a projector screen featuring a large cow
Sunny sharing a campaign update at our monthly volunteer meeting in Auckland.

Palm kernel expeller is a product of the palm industry, and is used during the summer months to feed the dairy herd, when there isn’t enough grass to sustain them. This dry, chalky product is closely linked to the destruction of peatland and rainforests, which is destroying wildlife and contributing to the climate crisis.

New Zealand is the world’s biggest importer of palm kernel expeller. We know what we need to do, we need to reduce the number of dairy cows in Aotearoa and transition away from destructive dairying towards resilient, ecological plant-based food production.

And with your help we can do it!

Thanks for being part of Greenpeace Aotearoa!

If you have questions or would like more information, contact me at: [email protected]