Mountains To Sea Conservation Trust — Education Charity in Whangārei
Mountains To Sea Conservation Trust is a Trust charity in the Education sector, based in Whangārei, Whangārei. This organisation also provides funding to other charities. CharityData rates this charity B (79.5/100). Annual revenue: $10.3M NZD. 1 red flag detected. Financial data as at March 2025.
Mission: The Northland-based Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust was established in 2002, as a charitable umbrella and support organisation for the Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) marine education and Whitebait Connection (WBC) freshwater education programmes. These are both leading models in education for sustainability in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The Trust sees education as a vital part of society and central to all environmental restoration. Both programmes involve young people, their parents and the wider community. Our programmes reinforce simple concepts such as the uniqueness of our freshwater and marine biodiversity and provide an active focus on conservation of these environments through education and action. Our goal is to empower and support communities to achieve marine and freshwater conservation through science based experiential programmes, resources, projects and community engagement. Our purpose is further described in our Trust deed objectives.
- Registration Number
- CC23406
- Charity Type
- Trust
- Registration Date
- 2008-04-23
- Status
- Active
- CharityData Rating
- B (79.5/100)
- Sector
- Education
- Location
- Whangārei, Whangārei
- Website
- https://www.mountainstosea.org.nz
- kim@mountainstosea.org.nz
- Funder Status
- Grant-making charity (trust)
- Data as at
- March 2025
Beneficiaries: Animals, Children / young people, Family / whanau, General public, Migrants / refugees, Older people, Other charities, People with disabilities, Other - All
Financial Summary
- Total Revenue
- $10.3M NZD
- Total Expenses
- $10.2M NZD
- Total Assets
- $4.4M NZD
- Net Assets
- $0.3M NZD
- Reserve Months
- 4.9 months of operating expenses
- Staff Count
- 40
- Volunteers
- 22
- Financial Year End
- 2025-03-31
Financial History
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $10.3M | $10.2M | $0.3M |
| 2024 | $7.2M | $7.1M | $0.0M |
| 2023 | $1.6M | $1.6M | $0.0M |
| 2022 | $1.0M | $0.9M | $0.1M |
| 2021 | $0.7M | $0.8M | $0.1M |
| 2020 | $0.8M | $0.8M | $0.1M |
| 2019 | $0.6M | $0.6M | $0.1M |
| 2018 | $0.6M | $0.6M | $0.1M |
| 2017 | $0.6M | $0.6M | $0.1M |
| 2016 | $0.4M | $0.4M | $0.1M |
CharityData Rating
- Overall Grade
- B
- Overall Score
- 79.5/100
- Financial Score
- 100
- Governance Score
- 65
- Transparency Score
- 85
Red Flags
- 2 trustees of this charity also sit on multiple other charity boards — concentrated trustee bandwidth may warrant board-skill-mix review.
Board Members and Officers
Current Officers (7)
| Name | Role | Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Kelly | Trustee | 2025-01-28 |
| Jawaharlal Changlani | Trustee | 2025-01-28 |
| Celia Witehira | Trustee | 2025-01-28 |
| Victoria Vajda Bartolomei | Trustee | 2023-07-31 |
| Patrick McCann | Trustee | 2023-07-31 |
| Finley Duncan | Trustee | 2023-07-31 |
| Sheila Taylor | Trustee | 2021-09-23 |
Former Officers (17)
- Arla Kerr — Trustee (departed 2024-04-03)
- Katrina Lee Goddard — Trustee (departed 2025-09-30)
- Jean-Louis Ecochard — Trustee (departed 2024-09-17)
- Eden Hakaraia — Trustee (departed 2021-09-23)
- Geoffrey Butturini — Trustee (departed 2022-09-29)
- Matthew Keene — Trustee (departed 2023-04-11)
- Manuel Springford — Trustee (departed 2022-09-29)
- Olivier Ball — Trustee (departed 2024-04-30)
- Hilton Leith — Trustee (departed 2022-09-29)
- Nicki Wakefield — Trustee (departed 2015-12-12)
- Susan Campbell — Trustee (departed 2016-09-29)
- Kim Pamela Boyle — Trustee (departed 2019-09-26)
- Ira Joy Seitzer — Trustee (departed 2008-06-30)
- Samara Nicholas — Trustee (departed 2019-09-26)
- Stefan Alfred Johann Seitzer — Trustee (departed 2008-06-30)
- Vincent Carlyle Kerr — Trustee (departed 2020-11-14)
- Roger Vernon Grace — Trustee (departed 2018-09-28)
Executive Compensation
| Name | Role | Compensation | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kim Jones | Key Management Personnel | $132,296 | 2023 |
| Kim Jones | Key Management Personnel | $132,296 | - |
| Kim Jones | Key Management Personnel | $132,296 | 2025 |
| Samara Nicholas | Key Management Personnel | $48,019 | 2025 |
| Samara Nicholas | Key Management Personnel | $48,019 | 2023 |
| Samara Nicholas | Key Management Personnel | $48,019 | - |
| Matt Keane | Trustee | $2,918 | 2025 |
| Matt Keane | Trustee | $2,918 | 2023 |
| Matt Keane | Trustee | $2,918 | - |
| Vince Kerr | Trustee | $0 | 2025 |
| Vince Kerr | Trustee | $0 | - |
| Vince Kerr | Trustee | - | 2022 |
| Sheila Taylor | Treasurer | - | 2023 |
| Vince Kerr | Trustee | - | 2023 |
| Katrina Lee Goddard | Chair | - | 2023 |
Funding Sources
- Foundation North — $1,519,800
- Foundation North — $793,950
- Foundation North — $446,800
- Foundation North — $331,000
- Foundation North — $160,000
- The Tindall Foundation — $30,000
- Pub Charity Limited — $10,299
Major Funders and Contracts (FY2023)
As disclosed in Mountains To Sea Conservation Trust's annual report.
- Ministry for the Environment — Essential Freshwater Fund - Wai Connection Project
Service Providers
- Orbit Audit
- ANZ Bank
Similar Charities in Education
- The Hato Paora Trust Board — Education
- Otago Presbyterian Girls' College Board of Governors Incorporated — Education
- Hawksbury Community Living Trust — Education
- Far North Reap Society Incorporated — Education
- Victoria University of Wellington Students Association and Te Aka Tauira Incorporated — Education
Mountains To Sea Conservation Trust
Financial data as at March 2025. Sourced from Charities Services register.
Reasons to look carefully (2)
These structural observations are drawn from public data and are worth considering before a donation. They are not allegations of wrongdoing, and they don’t affect the charity’s letter grade.
- No chair recorded on the registerNo chair or presiding role is recorded in the register for this board of 7. The Charities Register does not require one to be identified, so this is a gap in the public record rather than a finding about the board.
- Government-funding concentration87% of latest-year revenue came from government grants — single-stream dependency
Each signal is a data-driven observation, not a judgement. They fire automatically from the figures filed with Charities Services. A charity can address any of these by filing fuller disclosure or updating its officer register. Methodology: /about/methodology/concern-signals.
$10.3M
$10.2M
$4.4M
40
Financial data from Charities Services annual return (FY2025). Ratings calculated using CharityData v3.1.1 methodology.
Funder Profile
GrantmakerThis organisation makes grants or donations to other charities and organisations.
Funded By
Registered charities that have funded this organisation.
About
The Northland-based Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust was established in 2002, as a charitable umbrella and support organisation for the Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) marine education and Whitebait Connection (WBC) freshwater education programmes. These are both leading models in education for sustainability in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The Trust sees education as a vital part of society and central to all environmental restoration. Both programmes involve young people, their parents and the wider community. Our programmes reinforce simple concepts such as the uniqueness of our freshwater and marine biodiversity and provide an active focus on conservation of these environments through education and action. Our goal is to empower and support communities to achieve marine and freshwater conservation through science based experiential programmes, resources, projects and community engagement. Our purpose is further described in our Trust deed objectives.
Who We Serve
Key Statistics
Financial Trends
Financial Trends (17 Years)
Revenue Breakdown
Expense Breakdown
API DataBased on annual return data. Detailed program/admin breakdown not available.
Financial Health Dashboard
Based on latest annual return data. Metrics are calculated from reported financial data and may not reflect the full picture. View methodology
Revenue Diversification
HHI (Herfindahl–Hirschman Index) measures concentration across 6 income categories. Lower HHI = more diversified. Score above 60 indicates healthy diversification.
Peer Comparison
Ranked against 500 peers · Education (all sizes)
Top Peers in Group
Peers are charities in the same sector and revenue size band. Rankings are based on the latest available data.
Rating
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Sector & Activities
Data sourced from Charities Services register and publicly available annual returns. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. Scores are calculated using disclosed methodology and are analytical tools, not investment ratings or recommendations. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@charitydata.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice. Last updated: 28 September 2026.
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