Two Nelson teenagers prevented from volunteering unsupervised at the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary have won a change in policy after going to the Human Rights Commission.

The commission's intervention in the year-long dispute between young volunteers and the sanctuary has seen the sanctuary drop its policy preventing under-18s working unsupervised.

In December last year, 17-year-old Nelson College student Waka Goldsworthy and father Andrew Goldsworthy arranged for a small group of Waka's school friends to remove Old Man's Beard from the sanctuary's Douglas Fir plantation.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ Tobbi Jones, 17, left, and Waka Goldsworthy, 17, took their battle against a volunteering ban to the human rights commission.

"I had it in writing that it was all good to go. They were talking about how many sausages we needed," Andrew Goldsworthy said.

Little did the party realise that their desire to contribute to Nelson's environmental preservation would take them to the Human Rights Commission.

When the sanctuary refused the group entry at a day's notice, citing a policy that under-18s needed parental consent and supervision, the Goldsworthys and fellow volunteer Tobbi Jones, 17, pressed for the rules to be reconsidered.

Some of his friends were from refugee or single-parent families and couldn't supply consent, Waka Goldsworthy said.

"It's not necessarily [the sanctuary's] fault, they were sticking to their policy. They could have been slightly more empathetic, but that was their policy at the time."

A seven-hour-long mediation session with the Human Rights Commission on Wednesday culminated in an agreement to eventually remove the parental consent requirement for volunteers over the age of 16.

An interim policy will allow those between the ages of 16 and 18 to volunteer unsupervised with parental consent.

Jones said both parties co-operated well and were happy with the outcome.

"We really wanted to be involved and we are now. As cheesy as it sounds, we like to give back to the community.

"Most people over the age of 18 will leave Nelson and have no mark. Now you can come back after university and say "I helped the community. I built this fence, I helped the bird population"."

Waka Goldsworthy felt there was little community between the young and old in Nelson and hoped the new volunteering policy would help.

"Since our generation is going to be the next to maintain the sanctuary, we feel that it's quite a large step. We're looking forward to getting the experience and learning the skills those [older] guys have got."

Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Trust general manager Hudson Dodd said the sanctuary had always been envisaged as a multi-generational project and recognised the value of having young people involved.

"There has been sporadic interest from individuals over the years, but this represents a sea change in interest on young people's parts, and that's what has led to this process.

"We would be pleased if other organisations take this lead and find ways to engage young people seeking these opportunities."

But Andrew Goldsworthy warned that the sanctuary and other community groups were still "behind the eight-ball" when it came to volunteering policy.

Several organisations "could have sorted these things out with a phone call, but it was left to two 17-year-old boys", he said.

He said it was now important that the practical applications of the sanctuary's new policy be well facilitated.

For Waka and Tobbi, the plan is to put their upcoming summer holiday to good use.

"The first time I went up in a singlet and rugby shorts and I got torn to shreds by brambles. I felt elated, it's not something a lot of people in our year group have experienced," Goldsworthy said.

"Hopefully now that we're going to be year 13s we can use our school to get some more volunteers," Jones said.