The Trust, a NZ registered charity, started in 2013. Our patron is Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. Our trustees are volunteers who live locally and are passionate about conservation.



Noel Saxon - Chair

Noel has lived in Queenstown with his family for twelve years, the past eight as General Manager at Ultimate Hikes. A West Coaster at heart, with a background in the building and project management industry, he also has a keen interest in outdoors adventuring - tramping, hunting and participating in multi sports events.

Noel has a keen sense of the tourism industry especially operating responsible tourism activities in and around some of our national parks. He works closely with the Department of Conservation and other tourism operators managing guided walking activities on the Milford and Routeburn Tracks. He is very aware of the privilege of showcasing the habitats and wonders of this country’s natural landscapes and wildlife to people from New Zealand and around the world.

Kevin Jennings - Executive Director

KJ Jennings was a founding trustee of the Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust and in 2025, was appointed Executive Director. He leads community-driven conservation combining strategic leadership with on-the-ground delivery.

KJ moved to Queenstown in 1988 and has over 30 years’ experience in mountain biking and trail advocacy, creating events, alliances, and strategies that unite recreation and conservation. He has founded and led regional, national, and international alliances including serving as Chair of the Association of Film Commissions International, founding RFONZ — the Regional Film Offices of New Zealand and recently drove the formation of the Queenstown to Glenorchy Trail Alliance. 

Whether working on predator control, habitat restoration, or collaborative trail projects, KJ’s vision is to inspire public support for conservation through aligned partnerships, storytelling, and strategic action.

Trustees

Geoff Hughes 

Geoff is from the UK, emigrated over to New Zealand in 1997 with his wife Caroline and both have been happily living in Queenstown for the last seven years. He is a retired hospital doctor, having worked in the UK, NZ and Australian health systems, a keen birder (his favourite bird changes regularly) and a huge lover of the outdoors. Geoff has an interest in conservation and has been fortunate to travel extensively, visiting many wilderness and conservation areas around the world.

Helen Clark

Helen has spent more than 20 years in and around the Mt Aspiring National Park, predominantly in the Routeburn and Dart areas, both tramping and working in the biodiversity field for the Department of Conservation. She has knowledge and a huge appreciation of local fauna and flora, along with a dedication to help maintain and restore the birdsong of the Routeburn and Dart.

Living in Glenorchy and teaching at Glenorchy School, she is keen to promote the education of both children and adults to understand the uniqueness and the plight of the local wildlife, and how individuals can help to protect them.

Amanda Gatward-Ferguson

From the UK, Amanda has been in Queenstown for over 23 years after escaping corporate London. In 1984, with a degree in Geography, she worked for The Crown Estate Office in the finance department; after later winning a bursary she qualified as a Management Accountant.

A six month working holiday in Australia started the travel bug; after returning to the UK for five years and meeting her future husband, the time came to do something different. New Zealand beckoned.

Amanda and David have owned and run Nomad Safaris tour company since 1994. A keen advocate and practitioner of sustainability and conservation, projects include Wilding Pine control and reinvigorating the New Zealand Gold Panning Championships. The RDWT adds another dimension by focusing on fauna in addition to flora and geology.

Amanda Hasselman

Originally from Suffolk in England, Amanda graduated with a degree in Geography and set off to see the world, eventually ending up in stunning Glenorchy. She works on the farm which is now Carbon Zero certified, and confirms it is a lifestyle where the focus is on living within the constraints of the environment.

Amanda says that being a part of the Trust is a great opportunity to help make a difference to local biodiversity and contribute towards Predator Free NZ. She is very involved in the local community and keen to see RDWT thrive so that future generations can still hear deafening birdsong on the mainland. 

Rebecca Teele

Rebecca grew up in the Whakatipu and spent countless hours exploring the wilderness at the head of the lake. A love for New Zealand mountains and native wildlife drew her into a career in ecology, and today she is Technical Director of the Terrestrial Ecology Team at e3Scientific.

Rebecca has over ten years’ experience working as an Ecologist across both the public and private sectors, and both New Zealand and the UK on a wide range of projects. She has experience in large-scale predator control and restoration projects, as well as Ecological Impact Assessments for a variety of land-use activities across Otago. Rebecca brings both scientific expertise and a lifelong connection to the area, and is passionate about protecting and restoring the unique biodiversity of the Routeburn and Dart Valleys for future generations.  

Keith Springer

Keith is Glenorchy-based and is currently the Operations Manager for South Africa’s Mouse-Free Marion Project.

He’s had a varied career including 20 years as a forest and national park ranger with the NZ Forest Service and then the Department of Conservation, has worked in Antarctica for Antarctica New Zealand and on expedition ships to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands as a naturalist and zodiac driver.

Islands have featured largely in Keith’s life, including a year spent on Raoul Island in the Kermadec group, over three years on Macquarie Island and various stints on South Georgia, Lord Howe Island and Antipodes Island. He’s also spent a winter and several summer seasons at Scott Base in Antarctica.

Much of his island work has centered on the eradication of introduced pests and a strong motivator for pest control is seeing the results in flourishing wildlife and vegetation when pests are removed.

Our Field Crew

Rusty Varcoe - Trapper

Russell (Rusty), a long term local of Glenorchy, installed and looks after a whopping 600+ traps all around the town and surrounds.

Rusty has been a contractor of the Trust since 2017 but began trapping in 2011 after noticing quite a few stoats slinking around the local lagoon. His pup couldn’t catch them, so he decided to!

Rusty also helps organise our annual river bird counts and often helps out with pest control on New Zealand’s offshore islands so is really doing his bit to protect our special taonga species on a national level.

Chrissy Becker-Fifield - Trapper & Volunteer Coordinator

Chrissy moved over from the UK back in 2015 and decided to make her home here after falling in love with Aotearoa's papatūānuku. She moved to Glenorchy in 2022 and can't get enough of the beautiful landscape and community spirit here. 

As a former wildlife keeper for Queenstown’s Kiwi Park, Chrissy enjoys being able to apply her passion and knowledge of New Zealand’s taonga species in the field through her role. She carries out pest control and bird monitoring in the Routeburn Dart, Greenstone and Rees areas for us through her role with Southern Lakes Sanctuary. With their support, she also supports RDWT through coordinating our wonderful volunteers and maintains our Facebook and Instagram pages. Chrissy loves engaging with the community both in-person and online. Although a huge animal lover of all critters, her main priority and interest lies in protecting biodiversity.