Tauranga's Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust has been granted $357,000 over three years to work on conservation projects alongside the Department of Conservation.
The new Community Conservation Partnership fund supported community organisations involved in natural heritage and recreation projects.
It was the largest funding round the Department had experienced, receiving more than 280 applications for projects throughout New Zealand with a total value of more than $50 million.
The Otanewainuku Kiwi Trust intended to expand its pest control operations in the Otanewainuku forest to take in all of the native bush in the vicinity, a 50% increase in area.
The project was a game-changing level of increased conservation work, with the group on the cusp of delivering best practise conservation management over a large area.