Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust

We're deeply humbled and honoured to have been nominated, and selected as a finalist, in two categories of the Western Bay of Plenty Community Awards 2025! Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust is a finalist in the Sustainable Futures category. The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project is a finalist in the Best Collaboration category. The nominations reflect the momentum we've built, impacts achieved, and the direction we're taking to scale up. But, we're not on this journey alone. We work within an ecosystem of incredible partners and supporters Bay Conservation Alliance and all their member groups, Priority One Western Bay of Plenty, Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Waikato Regional Council, Department of Conservation (DOC), BayTrust, TECT and Rotorua Trust to name just a few. Our nominations reflect the collective drive to restore our unique biodiversity and find enduring solutions for financing that work! We're looking forward to the Awards evening in March! https://lnkd.in/gBVxzvwW

Recently Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust launched a platform for businesses to invest in Kaimai Mamaku restoration projects. Did you notice that we used the word 'investment', not 'donation' or 'sponsorship'? The language is intentional. Donations are often considered to be discretionary and one-off. Sponsorship implies that the recipient also delivers a service (staff experiences, PR, media placements) as well as doing the day to day conservation work. Conversely, an investment is putting resources (money, time) into an asset and it implies a longer term commitment. Investment also requires a value exchange, i.e. you expect a return on what you put in, which in turn requires data to support outcomes or performance. Investment implies a formal exchange between professionals; the recipient can get on with doing the mahi and the investor receives reports/data to confirm the 'return'. When a business invests in nature, it's a bit harder to see the return because local ecosystem services valuations (defining the economic value of the services ecosystems provide, like water, flow regulation, and slope stability) are not common and it's sometimes hard to see the evidence that the investment has benefited the 'asset' when you don't understand the language of biodiversity metrics. Accountants are key to slicing through this Gordian knot! We need a new language to translate the 'asset' value, biodiversity returns, and the need to put nature on the balance sheet. This will be a key component of Partnering for Nature with Priority One Western Bay of Plenty and Bay Conservation Alliance. As a starting point, here's a study that provides global evidence that investment in nature restoration is effective, thanks Predator Free New Zealand Trust. Returns are never guaranteed, but that's a pretty good endorsement for investing in nature! 🌱🌲🌳 🐦⬛ 🐞 🦀 🦈 https://lnkd.in/gkWztkmA

Ngā Mata Hiringa, featured in this short film, is one of our nine iwi/hapū-led nature-positive projects restoring the mauri of the Kaimai Mamaku ngahere and its catchments. By eradicating possums, rodents and mustelids, trees have a chance to survive. Mature rākau store carbon, stabilise banks, minimise sedimentation in waterways and stop flooding - all essential for thriving business and communities. "Getting pest control right, getting this mahi right, will determine whether or not we have any ngahere left," says Ngā Mata Hiringa Operations Manager Whetu Apaapa. To ensure this impactful mahi can continue, we need business investment. If you're interested to get involved, please get in touch now.

If your business wants to invest in effective pest control on this iconic maunga on the Kaimai skyline, get in touch! This team is using numerous methods, including biocontrols and mātauranga, to remove pest plants and restore the forest to a healthy ecosystem. They need investment to continue the mahi and expand into pest animal control so Te Taiao can provide the services our community and economy needs to thrive. Invest on a per hectare basis, or a monthly or quarterly basis. You will receive twice yearly reports with independently verified data on pest control, biodiversity, and social/cultural outcomes suitable for your business ESG annual reporting. Put nature on the balance sheet with an investment in Tumutumu Kaitiaki Taiao. Kordia, Chorus NZ Limited... let's talk! Rayonier Matariki Forests has invested in restoration of Killarney Lakes with our Wairere Mahi team just down the road. Get ahead of 'nature positive' requirements, join our early investors group, build value for your business. Thanks for your support Waikato Regional Council 🌱🌳😊

In a science-based field, filled with data and statistics, why are we focusing on storytelling? Because stories resonate. They connect. They inspire. Stories help us: ✅ Bring the intrinsic Mātauranga of our teams to life ✅ Bridge the gap between science and "the average joe" ✅ Inspire action and a sense of collective purpose. View the full video (by Cam Neate) and read the accompanying article (by our very own Rebecca Lee) here: https://lnkd.in/g9GGA7Db

We're proud to announce Rayonier Matariki Forests as an investor of the Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project! This trail-blazing partnership will help us fast-track more of the same types of partnerships across the rohe. Our goal is for all iwi and hapū around the Kaimai Mamaku to have this opportunity on their whenua.

The Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project has ten investment-ready iwi-led projects that are either well established or with a detailed work plan ready to get started. 🌱 Is your business part of the 92% who are ready to find out about local nature-positive projects? 🌱 Do you want to find projects with data underpinning their methods and results showing their impact? 🌱 Do you want to support projects embedding tikanga and mātauranga in their practices? Then find out more here: https://lnkd.in/dCsenRTT Thanks Priority One Western Bay of Plenty Bay Conservation Alliance Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council for your leadership 👏

Whakapapa, tikanga, mātauranga Māori and the principles of te ao Māori is central to Wairere Mahi's work programme. “We believe, as Māori, that those who walked this whenua before us all will awhi, protect and guide us on this journey of environmental restoration,” says Project Manager Mohi Korohina. Ngā mihi nui to Waikato Regional Council for supporting this tīma and ensuring the impact of their project can continue.

Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku Trust’s Annual Report for the 2023/2024 financial year is now live. We have had an incredibly productive year and continue to be inspired by the tremendous work undertaken by our teams. He honore he korōria ki te Atua, he maungarongo ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa, E rere ana ngā mihi ki a Kingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero te Tuawhitu kua riro ki te pō. Okioki atu rā e Te Ariki i te rangimārie. He mihi ki tō tātou Kuini, a Nga Wai Hono i te Po ki runga i tōna ahurewa tapu. E ara e! Pai marire! Read the full annual report here: https://lnkd.in/gqKvBWSS

So proud to see investment in the Kaimai Mamaku Restoration Project as one of the case studies at this event, thanks Bay Conservation Alliance, Priority One Western Bay of Plenty and Rayonier Matariki Forests 🌱🌳🌲