KIWIS PAYING IT FORWARD We’re doing it for love

Charlie Thomas ENVIRONMENTAL CRUSADER

Growing up in Red Beach on Auckland’s North Shore, Charlie Thomas, whose preferred pronouns are they/ them, spent their childhood surrounded by nature and wildlife. Charlie caught the conservation bug young and signed up for beach rubbish pick-ups and tree plantings after learning about plastic polluting our oceans and the many threats to native plants.

Then, at nine years old, Charlie, whose mum is Breeze radio host Jeanette Thomas, got the chance of a lifetime when they were selected by kids’ show What Now to be a Department of Conservation ranger for a week.

“I spent the whole week tracking whio duck, working with takahe¯ and building little toys for kea down in Te Anau, which was fantastic.”

Now 19, Charlie’s passion for conservation is just as strong. They spent most of 2020 on Kure, a remote atoll in Hawaii, as one of four volunteers caring for the native flora and