How It All Began
In 2000 the Department of Conservation (DOC) began working with communities new to the concept of conservation to show, rather than tell, why places like the Hauraki Gulf are special and worth preserving.

To launch the "Chinese Urban Conservation Awareness Programme", the Auckland Conservancy invited influential members of the Chinese and Taiwanese communities and media to visit the internationally renowned wetlands of Miranda, on the edge of the Firth of Thames. Here as many as 40,000 migratory birds spend the summer resting and feeding before the long flight back to their breeding grounds in Siberia and Alaska.

For many of the visitors, it was their first conservation experience and was made even more meaningful by the connections between Asia and New Zealand along the Australasian flyway. As one visitor said: "You cannot underestimate the ripple effect of an outing like this. It seems like such a small thing, yet we will all talk about this here and when we go back to our home countries."

The Chinese Urban Conservation Awareness Programme continued to organise activities such as tree planting on Motutapu Island and cleaning up Rangitoto Island's coastline. In order to expand the operation and organise more activities for more people to get involved, the Programme decided to set up a trust - The Chinese Conservation Education Trust.