Donate a Seedling - Help Restore our Biodiversity

The Wairarapa's Ruamahanga catchment is like a living body with water pumping through its veins. A vast number of tributary streams and rivers all feed into the Ruamahanga, flowing from the ranges and hills, seeping through farms, crossing paths with townships and onwards, feeding the Lakes Wairarapa and Ōnoke and neighbouring wetlands, before finally reaching the ocean.

To the south of our catchment is the Wairarapa Moana –– the largest wetland in the southern North Island. Treasured for hundreds of years, the area is acknowledged by local Māori as a place of cultural and spiritual value. The once abundant waters teemed with life. Today, a fragile and unique ecology remains, significant as a migratory pathway for many important and threatened species.

In fact, the entire length and breadth of the Ruamahanga catchment is important and significant for iwi, farmers, and community groups alike. Great results are being achieved by various community groups in the South Wairarapa, but the confluence of support, where we band together, is required all the way upstream.

Our task now is to help younger generations create new pathways, for themselves and those that follow –– planting native seedlings, eradicating predators, and creating bird corridors and pockets of restored lowland podocarp forest; where ground water can be retained, where native birds can breed and thrive, where farms can be nourished and sustained––and importantly where young people can learn from nature and be inspired to work together to re-wild our natural habitats and reverse the effects of climate change across the globe.

Every tree––every individual effort––counts.