New Zealand volunteers clean and maintain remote hiking huts.

Volunteers in New Zealand have cleaned more than 500 remote hiking huts this summer, trekking in with gloves and basic supplies to help maintain a publicly owned network of over 950 huts.

Volunteers are trekking into New Zealand's backcountry to clean and maintain remote hiking huts. The publicly owned network includes more than 950 huts, many of which are reachable only on foot. The Department of Conservation manages the huts but says the network is too large and remote to maintain alone. The Federated Mountain Club launched the "Love our Huts" campaign and has drawn hundreds of helpers. Key points: - More than 500 huts have been spruced up by volunteers so far this summer. - The hut network includes over 950 huts, with origins in the late 1800s and national management established in the late 1980s. - The Department of Conservation says sustaining the network is challenging because of remoteness and severe weather. - The Federated Mountain Club started the "Love our Huts" campaign and reports more than 300 people have signed up to help. - Volunteers carry simple cleaning supplies such as rubber gloves, newspapers for wiping windows and dissolvable cleaning sachets, often after multi-hour hikes. - Families, including children, have taken part and described tasks like wiping mattresses, cleaning windows and pulling weeds around huts. Summary: Volunteers have helped maintain hundreds of huts this season, supporting a nationally managed network that the conservation department reports it could not sustain alone. The campaign combines practical maintenance with cultural values cited by participants. Undetermined at this time.