For many careers, purpose doesn’t extend much beyond cashing in the payslip.

For Michelle Impey, she’s lived a career of purpose for 20+ years.

As CEO of Save the Kiwi, Michelle has led the organisation’s evolution from a one-person funding distributor to a national team delivering measurable conservation outcomes for our national icon, the kiwi bird.

In this episode, we talk candidly about building a career with purpose - the trade-offs and rewards, the culture that keeps people for decades, and how business skills like fundraising, operations and communications can drive real impact alongside fieldwork. You don’t necessarily need an ecology degree to help; you need intent, passion and persistence.

Michelle also outlines the NZ conservation sector’s evolution. From early research into Kiwi decline and DoC sanctuaries, to the community-led and iwi-led movement, Predator Free 2050, new technologies, and Save the Kiwi’s own incubation and crèche programmes - this is proof that collaboration can turn the tide for Aotearoa’s wildlife.

Here are some of the key topics we discussed:

• Lessons from 20 years leading and growing a conservation charity
• How New Zealand’s kiwi recovery efforts have evolved
• What leading a purpose-driven organisation really looks like day to day
• Blending business skills with conservation outcomes
• Applying entrepreneurial thinking to conservation challenges
• Advice for anyone looking to start or transition into a purpose-driven career
• Finding your place in conservation - from volunteering to leadership
• Why culture and long-term commitment matter in meaningful work
• And much more…

👩About Michelle:

For more than 20 years, Michelle Impey has been the CEO of Save the Kiwi, an organisation that’s on a mission to grow kiwi to abundance across New Zealand. Save the Kiwi works alongside iwi, conservation groups, and the Department of Conservation to raise awareness about the plight of the kiwi, how important the species is to New Zealand’s national identity, and what Kiwis can do to help their namesake.

During her 20+ years in this role, Michelle has witnessed the explosive growth of iwi- and community-led kiwi conservation initiatives, which have in turn created more kiwi-safe habitat all over the country and a greater collective desire for kiwi to return to places where they once thrived. Michelle works tirelessly to ensure kiwi remain at the forefront of New Zealand's consciousness, reminding everyone around her that one person taking small action can lead to monumental change.

🔗Learn more:

• Website: www.savethekiwi.nz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/savethekiwinewzealand
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/savethekiwinz
• LinkedIn: ww.linkedin.com/company/save-the-kiwi

🎙️Learn more about the podcast at www.conservationamplified.org

What happens when one of the Bay of Plenty’s most degraded catchments becomes a restoration success story?

In the 90s, the Te Mania Catchment was a major source of sediment flowing into the Tauranga Moana, with a stream health of 2/10. The stream flowed through Pukekauri Farm, managed by Rick Burke and the Seddon family. And they decided to do something about it.

They began their journey of environmental restoration at the same time as redesigning the farm to maximise productivity. Today, after 25+ years of riparian fencing, wetland restoration, pest control and assisted native regeneration, the same waterway scores a remarkable 9/10.

By slowing water with wetland sponges, planting steep erodible hillsides and stream edges back into native forest, and learning from mistakes like “wrong tree, wrong place,” Rick and, more recently, his brother John proved how ecological health and farm profitability go hand in hand.

Returning 25% of their land to nature didn’t hold them back - it made the farm easier to manage and more profitable.

But John’s message goes further. In a paper proposing reforms to the primary sector, he calls for a unified Aotearoa farm plan - linking on-farm restoration to catchment outcomes, avoiding greenwashing, and ensuring NZ’s global brand is built on verified ecological health.

Here are some of the key topics we discussed:

• The journey John’s family went through in restoring their farm
• The 1970s/80s incentives that led to clearing vast areas of native forest and how farming culture has evolved
• The red zone vs blue zone mindset for farmer wellbeing and productivity
• How ‘kitchen-window projects’ are a great way to start small to build momentum
• The major problems with environmental weeds and why whole communities must get involved
• The Tīmata method as a way to plant native forest for a fraction of the cost
• Assisted natural regeneration and rebuilding soil and fungal biomes
• Linking farm outcomes to NZ’s export story and avoiding greenwashing
• Catchment groups as anchors for resilience and community wellbeing
• John’s paper and the case for a unified Aotearoa farm plan
• And much more…

🧑‍🦱About John:

John Burke’s career spans roles as farmer, orchardist, agri-business consultant and environmental manager. He is passionate about economic and practical farming practices and restoring the health of waterways. John’s aim is to share his experience of improving water quality and achieving positive balance in rural communities.

🔗Learn more:

• John’s Paper: https://www.wai-kokopu.org.nz/john-burkes-paper/
• Wai Kōkopu: https://wai-kokopu.org.nz
• Project Parore: https://projectparore.nz
• Community Catchments Aotearoa: https://www.cca.nz/
• Tiwaiwaka: https://www.tiwaiwaka.nz

🎙️Learn more about the podcast at www.conservationamplified.org

Nature doesn’t stop at the fence-line, so why should conservation?

Throughout Aotearoa, catchment groups are changing the conservation narrative. Farmers, foresters, iwi and communities are working together at landscape scale - proving that when landowners are given structure and support, they become powerful custodians of nature.

The results ripple well beyond any single farm gate. From 6,000-hectare predator control projects to riparian planting that cools streams, this work flows from the headwaters to the moana, making towns more resilient to cyclones, waterways healthier, and ecosystems more connected.

But catchment groups are more than conservation alone. In remote communities, they’re taking on roading contracts, generating local jobs, and providing disaster resilience - building social fabric as well as ecological health.

In this episode, Sam “The Trap Man” Gibson shares how catchment groups evolve, what they need to thrive, and why their growth could be one of the most important shifts in Aotearoa’s conservation story.

Here are some of the key topics we discussed:

• What catchment groups are and how they’ve grown in NZ
• Why bipartisan political support makes them unique in the conservation landscape
• How incentives work better than penalties in driving on-farm change
• Kiwi surveys on dairy farms sparking wider ecosystem restoration
• Cyclone Gabrielle recovery as proof of community resilience
• The role of paid coordinators in keeping groups alive and thriving
• Catchment groups as job creators and anchors for rural communities
• How catchment groups combine into catchment collectives, achieving conservation and resilience at regional scale
• How this movement ties into Predator Free 2050 and climate resilience
• Sam’s documentary Think Like a Forest and the vision of Recloaking Papatūānuku
• And much more…

👩About Sam:

Sam/Hamiora Gibson (better known as Sam the Trap Man) is a trapper, conservationist, communicator, and community leader. Through roles with NZ Landcare Trust, Mountains to Sea, and regional councils, he has spent years supporting and establishing catchment groups throughout New Zealand.

With over a decade of experience spanning DOC, Goodnature, and community-led projects like Eastern Whio Link, Sam has designed predator control networks, coordinated large-scale conservation initiatives, and helped rural communities turn their aspirations for biodiversity and resilience into action.

🔗Learn more:

• NZ Landcare Trust: https://www.landcare.org.nz
• Sam’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sam_the_trap_man
• Sam’s Facebook: https://ww.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050646522100

🎙️Learn more about the podcast at www.conservationamplified.org