Our Partners

The Aorangi Restoration Trust’s partners work alongside us in achieving shared goals. We acknowledge and thank them for sharing in our mission to restore the Aorangi Forest area.

Department of Conservation

DOC is central government organisation charged with conserving the natural and historic heritage of New Zealand and has the statutory mandate to manage the Aorangi Forest Park (Recreational Hunting Area). In doing so, it is committed to working with a range of user and interest groups with differing objectives, seeking to find commonality to achieve shared outcomes. DOC is working with all groups to maximise their ambitions within a collective and collaborative framework.

Forest and Bird

Originally established in 1923, Forest and Bird is a not-for-profit organisation whose role has been extended in recent years to include protection of all native species and wild places – on land and in our oceans, lakes and rivers. It has 70,000 members and works with a variety of local, national & international partners.

Greater Wellington Regional Council

GWRC has a number of statutory responsibilities for the sustainable management of regional parks and private land within the region including land management, biosecurity, biodiversity, and water quality and quantity. GWRC also manages several Key Native Ecosystem sites in the area and is one of the land owners surrounding the Aorangi Forest Park. GWRC supports the Aorangi Restoration Trust where it aligns with council mandate and goals, and will work with other parties to contribute the staff and financial resources at its disposal.

Ngāti Hinewaka

The rohe of Ngāti Hinewaka, a hapu of Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, encompasses the whole of the Aorangi Forest and surrounds to Lake Onoke and the Ruamahānga River in the west, Martinborough in the north and the Pacific coast in the east. The hapū also owns approximately 2,000 hectares adjacent to the southern end of the Forest Park. Here, Kupe made his headquarters – Mātakitaki a Kupe – and the geological formation, Ngā Ra o Kupe, is the sail of his canoe. The hapū is proactively restoring its land, recording and preserving wāhi tapu and significant cultural sites.

OSPRI

OSPRI is a not-for-profit limited company that was established on 1 July 2013, when the Animal Health Board and National Animal Identification and Tracing merged. Shareholders are DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb New Zealand and Deer Industry New Zealand. TBfree New Zealand is a wholly-owned subsidiary and programme of OSPRI.

TBFree New Zealand

TBfree New Zealand implements the National Bovine TB Pest Management Strategy, which seeks to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from New Zealand. This requires long term investment in pest management across vast tracts of rural land. In 2006 and 2009, aerial drops of 1080 with deer repellent were applied in the Aorangi area. Subsequently, Project Aorangi Haumanu kia Haumako was established – a 10-year schedule of aerial 1080 drops and ground control planned for the Aorangi Forest Park and surrounds, an area of 33,000ha. The first drops were in 2014 and 2017, with a subsequent drop planned for 2020.

Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington works with the Trust and TBfree New Zeaalnd to monitor the impacts of the current 10-year schedule of 1080 drops in the Aorangi Forest. Victoria University monitors predators, including possums, rats and mustelids, as well as indigenous biota, including birds, insects, lizards and vegetation.

Aorangi hunters

In 2005, local deerstalkers advocated for the inclusion of deer repellent in 1080 used to control possums in and around the Aorangi Forest Park, NZ’s largest recreational hunting area. Their faith in deer repellent has been confirmed with insignificant deer losses over three aerial 1080 operations to date – demonstrating the success and cost effectiveness of this pest control method. The area provides hunters, who are represented on the Trust board, an accessible world-class wilderness experience.

Tonganui Corridors Landowners

OUR SUPPORTERS

The Aorangi Restoration Trust is enormously appreciative of the generous support and funding we receive from our partners and supporters.