This year, through the WWF-New Zealand Community Conservation Fund in partnership with the Tindall Foundation, we are proud to support the Rongomaiwahine Iwi Trust’s Waipiata Awa Revitalisation Project.
This special project is part of a much longer journey for local whānau. More than 20 years ago, community members and whānau of Ōpoutama gathered to discuss the changes they had seen along the awa and the need to restore its mauri.
Those early conversations planted the first seeds of this kaupapa - a shared vision to heal and protect Waipiata for future generations.
Fast forward to today, that vision is being realised through active restoration and education. In October, the Waipiata team joined students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Parehuia for the project’s first planting day.
Guided by Kaiako, Avon, and supported by seven students, the group strengthened native areas along the riverbanks at Ōpoutama, learning hands-on skills in caring for te taiao.
“Seeing our tamariki learning to care for the awa, and knowing they will carry that understanding home, is what this mahi is all about,” says project kaimahi, Maraea.
“We’re rebuilding not just the riverbanks, but our relationships with the land and each other.”
Next steps include monitoring plant survival, involving kura and whānau in ongoing water testing and droning activities, and expanding riparian planting along key stretches of the river.
The project is a living continuation of whānau aspirations first voiced two decades ago - a collective effort to restore the health, beauty, and wairua of the awa that sustains Ōpoutama.
The WWF-New Zealand Community Conservation Fund supports communities to run projects that conserve and restore Aotearoa’s natural environment, while also educating New Zealanders about its importance.