We are trying Hard to keep New Zealand Beautiful

On September 28th, the dedicated team from First Light Travel embarked on a rewarding adventure to Rangitoto Island, partnering with Sustainable Coastlines for a crucial beach clean-up initiative.

Danielle Mueth our Sustainability Manager attended Ecotourism Australia’s inaugural 2024 Global Sustainable Tourism Summit that was held in Meeanjin/Brisbane, in June 2024. 

First Light Travel is proud to be the major sponsor of the newly created Arrowtown Community Tree Nursery. The aim is to grow seedlings that will adapt easily to the local landscape - providing revegetation to the hills around Arrowtown. This land had fallen prey to wilding pines - which grassroots local community organisation the Arrowtown Choppers has made its mission to restore to native forest.

First Light Travel acknowledges our responsibility to undertake a journey toward reducing our environmental footprint. We are dedicated to making meaningful changes through various initiatives. In addition to our carbon offset program, we have appointed Danielle Mueth as our Sustainability Manager. Danielle brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in sustainability practices and will be crucial in driving our sustainability initiatives forward. 

The 8th of April 2024 marked another successful tree planting day, as part of our Carbon Offsetting efforts at First Light Travel. Once again we joined in to support the Arrowtown Choppers - a grass roots community initiative, with their planting day, and planted an impressive total of 3,000 seedling beech trees. With over 150 enthusiastic volunteers from the local community, the task was completed in just over three hours. It was heartening to see so many happy faces coming down the hill afterward.

With offices in Queenstown and Arrowtown, it was an obvious fit for us to support the Arrowtown Choppers, a community-driven environmental volunteer group. This dedicated group focuses on removing wilding pines above Arrowtown, the 'Choppers' also reintroduce native Beech, Ribbonwood, and Totara trees to enhance local biodiversity. We proudly sponsor the Arrowtown Community TREE Nursery, providing funding and native tree seedlings to support their vital mission.

In 2015, Robert Lange, in an extraordinary act of generosity, placed four QEII National Trust protective covenants, over 90% of his land, which comprises four former high-country sheep stations between Wanaka and Arrowtown this is now collectively known as Mahu Whenua.

This was a fantastic day out with great weather and plenty of happy faces! The event saw an impressive turnout of volunteers, all eager to make a difference. In just over two hours, 2,500 trees were planted, transforming the landscape and contributing significantly to the local ecosystem. The spirit of camaraderie was palpable as people of all ages worked together.

We're dedicated to preserving New Zealand's environment for future generations by reducing our impact today. Recognizing global concerns like climate change and biodiversity loss, we work to minimize our footprint and that of our guests. Discover how we're offsetting carbon emissions and contributing to New Zealand's natural beauty!

Last Friday, armed with gardening gloves and good intentions, our office team stepped away from their desks and onto a tree planting site on Coronet Face (just below one of our ski fields - Coronet Peak) to help plant 6000 juvenile beech trees in support of our local volunteer organisation, Arrowtown Choppers.