The Brook Waimārama Legacy Foundation
Protecting the Brook for generations to come.
Why Give to the Foundation?
The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary is the largest fenced mainland ecological Sanctuary in the South Island — and one of our region’s most precious taonga. Restoring it to a flourishing, pest-free native forest requires more than passion. It requires long-term, reliable funding.
When you donate to the Foundation, your gift is safeguarded and invested by professional investment managers. It grows over time and provides a steady income stream to support the Sanctuary’s vital conservation work—year after year, generation after generation.
You can protect the Sanctuary forever.
Your gift to the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Foundation Trust becomes a legacy—protecting wildlife, restoring forests, and inspiring generations to care for nature.
Your impact
- Native birds return and flourish
- Pest-free forest thrives
- Wildlife releases and ecological research expand
- Children learn, explore, and build lifelong connections to nature
- Our community’s wellbeing is strengthened through nature and belonging
Your contribution doesn’t just support today’s work—it ensures the Sanctuary will still stand strong 100 years from now.
Your gift doesn’t just help the Sanctuary this year. It helps ensure that the Brook can protect native wildlife for generations.
Ways you can give
- Bequest / Legacy Gift: Leave a lasting impact by including the Foundation in your Will.
- Endowment Gift: Create a named fund that grows over time, supporting conservation in perpetuity.
- Major Gift: Support a key ecological, research, or education programme.
- Regular Giving to the Foundation Trust: Build the Foundation’s strength through recurring contributions.
Your Legacy for Nature
A gift to the Foundation Trust ensures the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary remains a place where birdsong grows louder, forests grow older, and people grow connected to the natural world.
Together, we can protect this treasured Sanctuary—forever.
What Makes the Foundation Trust Unique?
- Independent, registered charitable trust
- Philanthropic arm designed for large gifts, endowments, and bequests
- Capital fund for long-term Sanctuary security
- Cannot be used for unrelated operational costs
- Free from tax, maximising every dollar’s impact
- Oversight by a board of Sanctuary trustees and one independent trustee
You can feel confident knowing your gift will be responsibly managed, protected, and used to secure the Sanctuary’s future.
How Giving Works
Your donation or bequest is invested: Craig’s Investment Partners manage the Foundation’s investment portfolio in alignment with responsible and ethical practices.
Your gift grows: The Foundation builds capital over time, creating a powerful long-term funding resource.
Income supports the Sanctuary every year: The Foundation provides annual income—and, when needed, capital—to enable predator control, biodiversity monitoring, education, research, and conservation operations.
Your legacy lives on: Because gifts are kept separate from operational funding, your contribution is protected, transparent, and used exactly as intended.
What Makes the Foundation Trust Unique?
- Independent, registered charitable trust
- Philanthropic arm designed for large gifts, endowments, and bequests
- Capital fund for long-term Sanctuary security
- Cannot be used for unrelated operational costs
- Free from tax, maximising every dollar’s impact
- Oversight by a board of Sanctuary trustees and one independent trustee
You can feel confident knowing your gift will be responsibly managed, protected, and used to secure the Sanctuary’s future.
The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Foundation Trust deed highlights:
- Registered charitable trust
- Board of three trustees – two Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust trustees, one independent
- Philanthropic arm attracting large donors and bequests
- Aims to build a large capital fund for long term sustainable funding
- Pays income to Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust
- Discretion to pay capital to Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust
- Tax free
- Money can be invested and divested from the Foundation at any time.
Conservation is our reason for being – to preserve and restore a sustainable natural habitat.
While the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Trust is itself a charitable trust, we established the Foundation as a separate charitable trust in 2019 specifically for receiving bequests, gifts and endowments from third parties.
The mission of the Foundation is to create a long term, reliable funding stream solely for the benefit of the Sanctuary and its conservation vision.
Creating an independent foundation means:
- Diversification: we are able to invest private gift funds in a more diversified manner, providing greater investment return and increased support for the Sanctuary with less risk of loss of real value
- Clarity: the Foundation income is kept completely separate from other fundraising efforts
- Security: a stable and secure source of funding for the Sanctuary, free of any public sector or funding influences that can shift over time
- Stability: the independence and long-term nature of the Foundation are steadying factors, particularly in difficult times
- Assurance to donors: by giving to an independent foundation, donors are assured that their gift will be responsibly invested and distributed for the intended purposes and not become confused with other funding
Bequests will help future generations enjoy native New Zealand species in the Nelson region.
New Zealand investment specialists Craig’s Investment Partners have been appointed as the Foundation’s investment manager.
Speak to the team at the Sanctuary to find out more information
Mike Glover
Mike Glover was confirmed as the Trust Chair following the resignation of the previous Chair (Chris Hawkes) at the board meeting held 17 February 2025. Mike is the Managing Director of a family-owned holding company for a number of business and property interests. Mike has been a Director and Chair of a number of Nelson and national companies over the last three decades. Mike has an honours degree in law and has been a Sanctuary Trustee since 2019.
Maurice Woodhouse
Maurice Woodhouse (Treasurer) has had a long career in the accounting industry and was a founding partner of one of Nelson’s most respected accountancy firms, RWCA. Maurice became a BWST trustee in 2017.
Jason Craig
Jason Craig works for Craig’s Investment Partners, based in Nelson as a financial advisor and has extensive experience in banking and investment prior to joining Craig’s. Jason is committed to the Nelson community, understands and identifies with the BWST aims and wants to make a positive contribution to supporting the Sanctuary.