WWF's conservation awards open to Bay

Heidy Kikillus won a 2014 conservation innovation award for her Cat Tracker research project. Photo/Supplied

The search is on for new ideas that will enhance the conservation effort in New Zealand.

With WWF's Conservation Innovation Awards now open for a second year, the nationwide quest for the next big thing in environmental protection runs until Friday 2nd October 2015.

Residents of the Bay of Plenty are encouraged to apply their creativity and come up with innovative tools, gadgets and concepts that will make a real difference to the work of frontline conservation volunteers throughout the country.

Designed to help innovators from all walks of life, fast-track their ideas to development, the awards fall into three categories - product, community project and research - and offer $25,000 prize money to each category winner.

Entry this year is via a new crowd-sourcing website. To take advantage of this, entrants need to submit their ideas as soon as they can at wwf.org.nz/innovation.

Lee Barry, WWF's Conservation Innovation Awards Coordinator said entries were posted onto the crowd-sourcing platform, registered site users then comment and feedback on the ideas.

Entrants can then take these comments on board and refine their submissions, he said.

"The power of the crowd is gaining momentum and for the Conservation Innovation Awards this collective approach means that ideas for furthering conservation work, which will ultimately benefit all New Zealanders, can be fine-tuned to their full potential."

Entries will be judged by an independent panel which will look for entries that have practical application and clear benefit for grass roots conservation groups.

Judges include Silicon Valley entrepreneur Matthew Monahan and conservation visionary Devon McLean.

Last year's award winning ideas included; Trap Minder - a mobile phone predator alert; Cat Tracker- a research tool enabling owners to monitor their behaviour and impact on wildlife; Energise Otaki - a community-wide initiative to reduce the town's emissions and promote renewable energy.