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Cultural Monitoring on Mt Te Aroha

Earlier this month, Ngāti Tumutumu, Waikato Regional Council and Department of Conservation met at the historic Tūi Mine site as part of their ongoing monitoring programme. The agencies work together to maintain a long-term monitoring framework, with Ngāti Tumutumu leading the cultural monitoring component—an approach that combines mātauranga Māori with scientific techniques to assess the ongoing health of the environment.Jill Taylor,  Kaiwhakahaere of Ngāti Tumutumu Trust, com...

Are you our next community trustee?

The Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust Board is a co-governed body consisting of six Māori trustees and five community trustees and is led by co-chairs, one of whom is also a Māori trustee and the other a community trustee.The vision of Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust is to restore the mauri of the Kaimai Mamaku - to reverse the decline of forest health and improve the resilience of the Kaimai Mamaku ngahere and its catchments through the Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project.For details of our vision, missi...

Pānui 9 | Muhuru, September 2025

Grab a kaputī and learn about what’s happening in the Kaimai Mamaku.This month, Tapuika have completed their second toxin operation, we go out for a day with Ngāti Hako and we chat AI traps.But first, Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project kaimahi have contributed how much to the regional economies?!Read the full pānui now!Image: Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project project managers learning about Hobbiton’s sustainability programme....

You're invited: AGM 2025

We appreciate your ongoing support of the Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust's vision and invite you to celebrate another fantastic year with us.Date: 13 NovemberTime: 7pm...

In the media: Day in the Life with Ngāti Hako

The bush of the Kaimai Ranges is unforgiving: slippery clay, tangly kiekie and steep ridges. For predator control crews, this is daily life. For Ngāti Hako, kaitiakitanga of this rohe for centuries, the mahi (work) is worth it. Since 2021, the Hako Restoration Project has been bringing life back to the lands behind Karangahake Gorge destroyed by colonisation, logging, and mining.When these operations ceased, the land was effectively abandoned, and the weeds and introduced predators took over. T...

What exactly are Biodiversity Credits?

We have partnered with Boffa Miskell Ltd, an environmental consulting firm, to adapt an international biodiversity credits framework to New Zealand conditions. The value and integrity of Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project biodiversity credits will be established through this process.But, what does it all mean?We've removed the jargon and made a simple four-page overview of what exactly are Biodiversity Credits, and what they mean for you and your business. Just fill in your details below and...

Pānui 8 | Here-turi-kōkā, August 2025

Grab a kaputī and catch up with what’s been happening in the Kaimai Mamaku.This month, Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project managers enjoyed a day in the shire, Aotearoa Circle released their latest report, we’ve developed a Biodiversity Credits 101 cheat sheet, plus much more.READ THE FULL PĀNUI NOW....

Pānui 7 | Hōngongoi, July 2025

Grab a kaputī and catch up with what’s been happening in the Kaimai Mamaku.Our teams have just completed their annual health and safety audits, kiwi recorders were retrieved after a fortnight in the Mamaku and Waitaha has wrapped up eDNA testing in 12 strategic waterways.READ THE FULL PĀNUI NOW....

Partner Spotlight: Samson Safety Solutions

Working in the ngahere is unlike many other jobs. The office is the whenua, shaded by rākau, susceptible to the elements with many moving parts and unpredictable risks.To keep our eight iwi and hapū-led projects safe, Henry Samson, of Samson Safety Solutions, has been with us since inception.Henry’s job is to provide technical support to the Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project to build capability and proficiency in appropriate Health & Safety practices, developing a wellbeing culture in al...

Pānui 6 | Pipiri, June 2025

Grab a kaputī and catch up with what’s been happening in the Kaimai Mamaku.Years of hard work has paid off with two huge announcements, Te Whakamaru o Horohoro secure funding from Lotteries, and we release the outcomes of our Social Impact Survey.But first, our CEO Louise Saunders shares practical steps to help businesses invest safely into conservation and restoration work.Featured image: Te Paiaka block, Te Whakamaru o HorohoroREAD THE FULL PĀNUI NOW...

In the media: Government funds feral goat eradication

A plan to hire “the snipers of the hunting world” to cull feral goats wreaking “havoc” in the Kaimai Mamaku Conservation Park has been kick-started by a $750,000 grant.The initiative, driven by Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust, aims to move from controlling feral goat populations to eradicating them.Trust chief executive Louise Saunders said control was about keeping population numbers low, whereas eradication was about “getting rid of them completely”.Over the past four years, a Joint Ag...

Report: Conservation mahi improves mental health

Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata | When the land is well, we are wellKaimai Mamaku Restoration Project kaimahi experience significant positive impacts through their conservation mahi. Overall, kaimahi | workers feel fitter and stronger than before they started, experience better mental health and feel more connected to whenua, whānau, tūpuna and iwi. They strongly believe their mahi is making a positive difference and they’re confident talking about it.The social and cultural impacts of c...

Partnering for nature: Finding the right investment

By Louise Saunders, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust CEO...

Announcement: $750,000 towards feral goat eradication

Feral goat eradication in the Kaimai conservation park is the latest environmental initiative driven by Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust, now made possible with funding from the central government.CEO of Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust, Louise Saunders, says it's crucial we move from control to eradication.“Feral goats wreak havoc wherever they go. They eat understorey which stops forest regeneration, they have the potential to spread kauri dieback disease and they eat grass at record speeds, severely ...

Announcement: Biodiversity Credits

The hunting and preying has paid off! We're part of the Ministry for the Environment | Manatū mō te Taiao Biodiversity Credit pilot programme announced by Minister Andrew Hoggard at Fieldays® 2025. The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project is partnering with Boffa Miskell Limited as a pilot project using an international biodiversity credits platform. Over the coming months, we'll validate the methodology for NZ conditions to produce science-based biodiversity certificates for investors. Ng�...

In the media: BoP businesses asked to foot the bill

[Excerpt from Greg Hurrell, Business Desk]Anyone who has driven from Hamilton to Tauranga, or through the Karangahake Gorge between Paeroa and Waihī, has been through the Kaimāī Range. It forms a barrier between the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions and is a mix of native forest with tramping tracks and huts, pasture land and plantation forest. In recent years, the Manaaki Kaimāī Mamaku trust has received millions of dollars in public funding to restore native forest and manage animal and p...

Pānui 5 | Haratua, May 2025

Grab a kaputī and learn about what's been happening in the Kaimai Mamaku. This month we launch our donations portal, our CEO co-authors a new report that puts an economic value on the Kaimai Mamaku ecoysystems, and we chat to a feral goat culler.Read the full pānui here. ...

Partnering for Nature: What's happening in Aotearoa

By Louise Saunders, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust CEO...

Feral Goat Hunting in the '90s

All image credits: Steve Lurie, using his Kodak instamatic he would take with him every trip. ...

Report: The economic value of the Kaimai Mamaku

The economic valuation of services provided by the Kaimai Mamaku (~260,000 hectares) is estimated to be between $568M - $645M per annum, a new analysis by Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust and Waikato Regional Council has found. Building on a 2010 Department of Conservation (DOC) publication that valued the ecosystem services of areas within the Tauranga Harbour catchments, this newly released report estimates the economic value of ecosystem services provided by a ...

Pānui 4 | Paengawhāwhā, April 2025

Grab a kaputī and learn more about what’s been happening in the Kaimai Mamaku.Ngāti Tumutumu inspires Te Aroha communityOur Environment: Tō Tātou Taiao 2025 is out nowBay Conservation Alliance celebrates their final cohortSustainable Business Network visits the BayWe’re half way through our second round of eDNA testingWe went out in the field with AUT’s Geospatial studentsOtawa Waitaha a Hei project manager Luke Whare is featured in the latest Our Place MagazineOur CEO Louise Saunders ...

Partnering for nature: Global risks and developments

By Louise Saunders, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust CEO...

We Won! Sustainable Futures 2025

The Sustainable Future Award recognises those who have implemented innovative projects or practices that protect and enhance the environment or who have embedded sustainability into the core of their operations. It celebrates forward-thinking initiatives that address climate challenges and contribute to a healthier, more sustainable future for all.We are so honoured to be this years winner. About the awardsThe Western Bay Community Awards bring together all those who are involved ...

In the media: Nuturing the ngahere

Luke Whareaorere, Otawa Waitaha a Hei project manager, gave up his Gold Coast construction career to come home and help restore the ngahere his tūpuna once traversed.“If our maunga and our awa are dying, our people are dying. The more we look after our ngahere, the healthier our people are," he says.Read the full story here....

Pānui 3 | Poutū-te-rangi, March 2025

Grab a kaputī and learn more about what’s been happening in the Kaimai Mamaku.This month:We won a Western Bay Community Award!Haere mai, our three new supporters  A new digital guided walk in Te Aroha is coming soonNgāti Hako are monitoring rakau rangatiraLouise Saunders, our CEO, is leading an upcoming Priority One eventAnd, a super sneak peak of the upcoming Our Place Magazine feature.Read the full pānui now....