Bengu Fetzer has been our Global Tree Initiative (GTI) New Zealand coordinator for more than two years.

You may recall reading about a tree Bengu planted with her friend, or the tree-planting project she coordinated at Chandrakirti Meditation Centre back in 2022 and CCR Murchison.

Now, we are happy to announce that Bengu has taken the role of project coordinator for our GTI international office. Bengu has worked for several years in the Tourism industry including teaching open-water diving. She has worked with marine life and brought awareness of the preservation of coral systems during her diving career in different parts of the world. Last year leaving her admin job she followed her passion again and started working for a wildlife Centre in New Zealand where they cared for endemic animals.

Bengu planting a tree in New Zealand

Welcome to your new role, Bengu! We are very happy and thankful to have you here, and we are looking forward to a lot of exciting developments with you!

She shares that “November and December have been amazing! We had the Habitat Alignment Key (HAK) retreats in New Zealand and Australia. I was very fortunate to spend time with Ösel and his team. We all enjoyed the beautiful scenery and friendliness of New Zealand. HAK brought many people together. It is such a joy that we are creating a beautiful community here.

During this time, we talked about GTI and its vision. Working together with Lana and Tom was delightful! They had the opportunity to get to know our ongoing planting activities both at Wish Fulfilling Land, Chandrakirti Centre, and CCR Murchison. The Centre communities and the team of volunteers will continue to plant more trees at both locations in the future.

During this time, I had the privilege to chat with some of the tree-planting friends and we all are excited about the events to come!”

Thank you very much for your story, Bengu, and our very best wishes to you in your new role!