We are excited that three of the projects we support through our Gulf Innovation Fund Together (G.I.F.T) initiative are attracting media attention right now.

Guardians of the Gulf is a pilot web platform set up by EcoMatters Environmental Trust to enable businesses to offer incentives to reward people for volunteering their time to environmental projects benefitting the Hauraki Gulf. The platform went live on Monday 12 November and is ready for the public to explore at www.guardiansofthegulf.co.nz

Researchers from NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) are heading out on the Hauraki Gulf this week to find out more about the nurseries of young snapper. A G.I.F.T grant is being used to extend the areas being habitat-mapped by echo-sounder technology aboard the organisation’s vessel Ikatere.

Meanwhile in a South Auckland classroom today, a group of Year 7 students from Kedgley Intermediate School became some of the first young people on the planet to try out the NZ-VR Project – an educational resource which allows the viewer to experience the underwater world of the Hauraki Gulf (both pristine and endangered) in vivid 360 virtual reality. New Zealand Geographic, the Sir Peter Blake Trust and WWF are behind the series of experiences which can be accessed by anyone with a device connected to the internet. Go to vr.nzgeo.com to instantly connect with what few of us have seen with our own eyes.