Love Queenstown and Love Wanaka Funds Celebrate over $100,000 raised for Environmental Action.

Queenstown Lakes, New Zealand — 08 July, 2025 — Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown are proud to announce the opening of their 2025 Impact Grants following another milestone year and a record $100,000 raised across the Queenstown-Lakes region. These funds will directly support charitable organisations delivering frontline climate, conservation, and biodiversity projects in the region. Eligible organisations can now apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000, with funding made possible by generous contributions from visitors, tourism operators, and local businesses committed to protecting the region’s natural environment. Applications for the 2025 grants are open from 8 July – August 06. “These grants are about empowering the incredible organisations already working so hard to protect our rohe (region),” says Ash Bickley, Community Fund Coordinator. “The ongoing support from the visitor industry has been inspiring — it shows a real commitment to not just sustaining, but regenerating, the places we love.” Since their inception in 2023, Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown have brought industry volunteers together to plant over 6,500 native trees, connected numerous visitors to local volunteer opportunities, become hubs for sustainable travel information and inspiration, and invested $32,500 for future generations via the Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown endowment funds. From restoring waterways to increasing native biodiversity, the initiatives are proving the power of collective, community-led impact. “This is about building a regenerative future for our region,” says Mat Woods, CEO of Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism. “These funds are a direct result of visitor and business generosity — and are a unique example of how tourism can support real, on- the-ground environmental action.” Past recipients of Love Wānaka and Love Queenstown’s annual Impact Grants include the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust, Whakatipu Wildlife Trust, Tāhuna Glenorchy Dark Skies Group, Te Kākano Aotearoa, Predator Free Wānaka (formerly Wānaka Backyard Trapping), WAI Wānaka, and the Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group. “To have relationships and collaborations with the likes of Love Queenstown is just vital,” says Sararose Brown, Operations Manager for the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust. “It allows us to bring local businesses and community members along with us, working toward a shared vision of making this place even better.” Funding is allocated in partnership with the 45South Community Foundation. More information, including full eligibility criteria and application details, is available at: www.lovewanaka.co.nz or www.loveqt.co.nz