Protecting 175,000 hectares of Fiordland National Park
In 1993, a group of hunters formed the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF) to reduce the impacts that deer were causing in the Wapiti area of Fiordland National Park and to manage the Wapiti deer herd for recreational benefits.
One of many such introduced species to New Zealand. As part of New Zealand’s first community agreement between the Department of Conservation and the FWF, each year a selective control programme is undertaken to maintain the deer population below established ecological threshold levels.
A major aim of the foundation is to control the deer population in the sensitive alpine environment to protect browse sensitive indigenous species. Fiordland National Park is a World Heritage area with the work of the FWF contributing to its conservation, whilst at the same time acknowledging the Wapiti herd as a manageable recreational resource.
WithWild and the FWF partnered in 2002 to address the issue around these animals not being recovered. Our intention through this partnership is to honour these free roaming animals by acknowledging them as a valuable food resource. By working together we can ensure that we protect our wild environments for generations to come.
We firmly believe that the purest food is found in the wild. That’s why we give back to organisations like the FWF, to help maintain and preserve this special piece of Fiordland National Park that has such a rich history.
The leading man providing the passion behind the organisation is Roy Sloan (General Manager of the FWF). A conservationalist, and hunter on a mission to protect his backyard and to ensure that future generations get to experience and enjoy the magic of Fiordland National Park. We live in a cool country, isolated thousands of years ago from the rest of the world, we were left with a gift of uniqueness. Odd birds that couldn’t fly, expanses of mountains and forests, then came humans who brought predators. Now, as a nation, we have reached a point where we cannot afford to control these predators, our native flora and fauna are in trouble. That’s where responsible businesses like WithWild and BurgerFuel come to the rescue, funding the likes of our foundation, to help our unique birds and forests and giving them a fighting chance”