A Taranaki community-led conservation initiative will be rolling around in style thanks to a new sponsorship partnership with Mazda New Zealand.
The East Taranaki Environment Collective, which works to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity of thousands of hectares of East Taranaki hill country, has been supplied with a 4WD Mazda BT-50 GSX double-cab ute by the company's charitable trust the Mazda Foundation.
The brightly signwritten vehicle has just been delivered to ETEC's headquarters in Inglewood, to the delight of staff and volunteers who up until now have been using a leased second-hand 2WD single-cab ute to access the remote hill country, frequently on unsealed roads.
ETEC general manager Rebecca Somerfield says the new vehicle will be a boon for her organisation's operations, particularly as regards the safety of staff.
"Our partnership with Mazda is fantastic news, and we are very grateful to the Mazda Foundation for supporting us in this way.