About us

Friends of bullock creek Objectives:

(a) To protect, restore and enhance the public amenity and the environment of Bullock Creek from head waters to its entry point into Lake Wānaka.

(b) To raise and manage funds to support object (a) above.

(c) To engage, inform and educate members of the public and residents of Wānaka as to the significance of Bullock Creek as a spring fed waterway, and how to manage and protect it.

Trustees

The current trustees of Friends of Bullock Creek Charitable Trust are:

Featured

Charlotte Gardiner - Chair

Born and raised in Wānaka, Charlotte runs a virtual CFO business helping both for-profit and not-for-profit clients with their management accounting.

She has joined FOBC to lend her skills to a good cause and bring awareness to a natural asset of the township.

Andy Oxley - Secretary

I live up the hill from Bullock Creek. I walk there almost everyday. I’m inspired by the beauty of this little natural haven in the middle of suburbia. I’m a keen conservationist and a regular trapper in the Mt Aspiring National Park. I am constantly awed by the transformation of the wetlands that were previously overgrown when I first moved to Wanaka. Now bellbirds and tui’s serenade me on my walk.

Roger Gardiner

Roger has been an active member of the Wanaka community since the 80’s. He has been the mastermind and driving force behind many projects down at the wetland. He will often be found in a pair of gumboots doing the hard yards at the site.

Barry Mitchell

Growing up in Central Otago and educated in Dunedin, Barry settled in Wanaka at the beginning of 2016 after 40 years in senior management roles in Auckland and Christchurch. He has been the Treasurer of the Wanaka Residents Association since his move to Wanaka and is an active volunteer in local and regional activities

Bo Stent

I am a recent arrival to Wānaka after living and working in many locations throughout New Zealand. My interest in conservation stems from my time working for the New Zealand Forest Service in the 1970’s and running capital projects for DOC in the Southern Islands Area, Southland Conservancy. I was for a time Operations/Facilities Project Manager for the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary in Nelson, the largest predator-proof fenced sanctuary in the South Island. I see the Bullock Creek restoration project as very achievable with a great endpoint of a restored green space that the people of Wānaka can enjoy. I am enthusiastic about becoming a Trustee and progressing this restoration project.

Susie Meyer

I am an outdoor enthusiast, with a vested interest in the ecology of Wānaka and its surrounds. My curiosity in the connection between society and nature gives me motivation to engage in causes at a local level. I have a history of experience with government bodies to facilitate access to the Aspiring National Park, governance roles with small business and government funding bodies and an in-depth community involvement over the past 35 years. My goal is to promote Bullock Creek and its origins as an unrecognised jewel of Wānaka so that we can protect this gem for future generations.

BOARD ADVISORS

The current Board Advisors of Friends of Bullock Creek Charitable Trust are:

Featured

Aug 13, 2025

Advocacy- Nancy Latham (past Chair)

Aug 13, 2025

I have holidayed on the banks of Bullock Creek since the 1980s, and now I’m fortunate to call this place home. Wānaka holds my personal Ahi kā, and I believe in advocating to ensure that the natural environment of Wānaka is respected and protected for generations to come.

Aug 13, 2025

Governance- Ben Irving (past Chair)

Aug 13, 2025

I am a passionate, energetic business leader who is committed to finding innovative ways to create positive change in the world. I feel a responsibility to improve the environment I live in if I wish to keep enjoying it as much as I do.

Aug 13, 2025

our partners

Featured

Paul van Klink – Lead Contractor

Paul is the original driving force behind the Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs restoration project, recognising the importance of the spring-fed Bullock Creek and the need to clear the then inaccessible 2.7ha wetlands of invasive weeds. Previously working across various conservation and biodiversity projects and organisations including DOC and Otago Fish & Game, from 2005 to 2015 Paul worked as a self-employed ecologist specialising in surveying and management of threatened bird species including mohua, fernbird, weka, whio and kea. Paul has been living in Wānaka since 2012.

Paul is the Lead Contractor for FOBC, responsible for site operations and the wetland restoration work and planning, including volunteer supervision and Corrections-workers supervision on-site.

Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust

Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust is a Wānaka community-based native plant nursery that specialises in propagating plants of local origin (Upper Clutha region) and uses these plants for localised native habitat restoration. They work with local community groups, schools, organisations & businesses in the effort to promote hands-on community land care.

Their mission is to inspire community native habitat restoration through propagation, education and hands-on participation.

Te Kākano was involved at the beginning of the Bullock Creek planting project in 2016. They helped with the clearing and initial clean-up of the wetland. To learn more about Te Kākano, visit their website: www.tekakano.org.nz

WAI Wānaka

WAI Wānaka connects individuals, community groups, iwi, landowners and businesses undertaking positive work towards enhancing water quality, ecosystem function and reversing biodiversity loss within the Upper Clutha. The Upper Clutha's catchments and water bodies are vital for the health and wellbeing of our community, both regionally and nationally.

WAI Wānaka believes that science lies at the heart of understanding how we balance the needs of our community alongside maintaining the health of our environment and advocates for the active management of waterways supported by evidence-based decision making.

Otago Catchment Communities Inc.

FOBC has been the grateful recipient of funding from OCC whose objectives include:

Providing organisational support for Catchment Groups and their volunteers

Assisting with the formation and direction setting of new and emerging groups

Assisting individual groups with accessing funding

Providing administration support to help create and run groups

Help Catchment Groups and OCC communicate their story

Facilitating access to experts, information, technology, and education

Establishing enduring funding pipelines to support changing needs

Facilitate collaboration between Catchment Groups, Government, Regional Authorities and Stakeholders

Department of Corrections Ara Poutama Aotearoa

www.corrections.govt.nz

Tiaki Bees

Tiaki Bees, the Beehive Rental Business that has been created to help the bees, give back to the environment and encourage healthy mindful living.

Always interested in the mysterious “art” of Beekeeping and the complex and fascinating world of Bees, Barna decided to get his first beehive a few years ago, and he was hooked. Since then he finished a New Zealand qualification in Apiculture, read anything and everything he could find about bees, and steadily grew the number of his hives each year.

our CURRENT FUNDERS

FOBC AND BULLOCK CREEK IN THE MEDIA

view media

Check out the fobc photo gallery

Click here to view photos