Two Taranaki charities, each using innovative technology to advance conservation efforts, have been named finalists in this year’s prestigious New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards 2026, in the category of Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good.
Wildlife.AI’s Spyfish Aotearoa helps rangers and community members monitor marine reserves efficiently. Spyfish replaces labour-intensive methods with automated data collection and processing, providing quick, accurate reports. This helps to show the positive impacts of marine reserves, and how they are supporting our fish species and our moana.
“Being a finalist is recognition of the mahi we’ve been doing, and also for the region, showing how we are innovating at the forefront of using tech for conservation,” said Victor Anton, Wildlife.AI General Manager.
800 Trust has developed Hark, a robust listening device deployed in forest environments to automatically record the presence and movements of birds and pests.
“Until now, it’s been really difficult for groups to monitor what’s been happening in the forest, and particularly for community groups to report back to their funders accurately. Hark changes that by listening in real time and providing automatic reports about what’s going on,” said Miranda Wells, Project Lead.
For both organisations, Toi Foundation funding has been a vital part of the journey.
“Toi gave us some initial funding to start developing Hark. That enabled us to fund materials and develop a base model which proved the theory,” said Miranda.
“800 Trust has planted 28,000 trees over the past year, with community support, and we’re fortunate that Toi also helps fund some of our conservation mahi.”
“We got funding for a different project, and also to help fund a new communications and operations advisor and Mātauranga Māori advisor,” said Victor.
“It’s helped us scale Wildlife.AI, share the impact, and build community engagement.”
Sourcing funding for innovation can be very challenging for a not-for-profit organisation. Miranda says many funders prefer a for-profit business model, so Toi Foundation’s support and belief in their project was invaluable.
Victor and Miranda say Toi Foundation support has helped them prove that innovation can happen within a charity framework. That’s not only beneficial for Taranaki, but is now being recognised nationwide.
