Southern Conservationists Honoured
Chris and Brian Rance, Key Summit, Fiordland. Photo: Alan Mark
Southlanders Chris and Brian Rance have been recognised in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for their Services to Conservation.
Mr Brian Rance and Mrs Chris Rance have contributed to conservation projects in the Southland area for over 20 years. They have been the de-facto managers of the Te Rere Reserve, which has a resident population of Yellow-Eyed Penguins, for many years. They have organised and led planting and maintenance days and coordinated the annual penguin counts. They both serve on the Te Rere Reserve Advisory Committee and Mr Rance was one of the lead writers of the reserve's management plan. Mrs Rance has sourced funds to keep the project running and has organised visits for people to the reserve and educated the public about conservation issues. She is also a representative of the Southland Ecological Restoration Network. They established the Southland Community Nursery and Education Centre on their property, where they grow native plants for local development and educate school groups. Mr and Mrs Rance were instrumental in establishing the Otatara Landcare Group and they won the Loder Cup in 2002; New Zealand's premier award for plant conservation.