Award for couple who donated $25m to restoration of Abel Tasman National Park

Sunday, 24 June 2018

Next Foundation chairman Chris Liddell, left, with Annette and Neal Plowman.

An 'extremely private' Auckland couple who have committed $25 million to restoring biodiversity in the Abel Tasman National Park have been recognised with a national award.

Neal and Annette Plowman were revealed in 2014 as the funders behind Project Janszoon, a comprehensive bid to restore the flora and fauna of the Abel Tasman over 30 years.

Project Janszoon is a 30-year project to restore the Abel Tasman National Park's biodiversity.

The couple were awarded the Kea World Class NZ Supreme Award on Thursday for their philanthropy. The annual awards recognise inspirational Kiwis making outstanding contributions to New Zealand's economic, social and cultural development.

The Plowmans made their fortune from a laundry business, founded in 1910 by George Plowman, that became New Zealand Towel Services and was sold to an American company Alsco in 1998. They also founded and sold multiplex cinema chain, Hoyts.

Project Janszoon was established in 2012 and works in partnership with the Department of Conservation to enhance native forest and birdlife over almost 80 per cent of the national park within 30 years.

Former project director Devon McLean said the couple were known to be extremely private, but he thought they were 'quietly very happy' with the recognition.

'They got a wonderful standing ovation from the crowd…I think they felt very much appreciated by New Zealand.'

McLean worked with the couple on the restoration of Rotoroa Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf which began in 2008. Once the transformational work on the island was complete, the Plowmans asked McLean what it was he was passionate about.

The Nelson man told them he had always wanted to fix the Abel Tasman National Park and he put a proposal forward, which the couple decided to support.

He said Project Janszoon then became a blueprint for the restoration of other New Zealand national parks, with Taranaki Mounga in the Egmont National Park the next to follow.

The couple have supported several other significant philanthropic projects in the environment and eduction sectors, including the University of Auckland Business School and the Teach First NZ which aims to tackle educational inequality.

In 2014, the couple founded the NEXT Foundation, to administer a 10-year, $100 million programme of strategic philanthropy. The foundation donates between $5 and $15 million per year to up to three major environmental or educational initiatives with potential to be nationally transformative.

The Tomorrow Accord, introduced by the Foundation in 2014, ensured the gains made by Project Janszoon would be taken on and maintained by the Crown.