Community Activist, Environmentalist
Described as a "tireless environmental campaigner" by former Mayor Mark Blumsky, Ahipene-Mercer, with John Blincoe, led the Wellington Clean Water Campaign, which successfully sought to have Wellington to treat its sewage, and stop dumping it, raw, in the sea.
He is well known for his work to protect and rescue little blue penguins or Korora, and arranged the construction of the first artificial nesting areas for the birds in Wellington. Poachers of paua, or New Zealand abalone, have been a particular target of Ahipene-Mercer's attention, and as an honorary fisheries ranger he has seized and returned many thousands of illegal paua to the sea. He regularly speaks to groups, especially schools, about environmental issues, and includes a strong Maori perspective in these talks. He is an advocate of reforestation in Wellington City and has been an active organiser of community tree-planting events since 1990. He has sought to reintroduce a number of Maori names to Wellington, such as Te Tangihanga-a-Kupe, for the rocks known also as Barrett's reef, and Tarakena Bay, and in 1996–1997 assisted Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in creating an audio tape of Māori names of flora and fauna for use by sanctuary volunteers and members. He received a major conservation award in 1998.
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