Awhitu Landcare is a community led organisation situated on the Awhitu Peninsula, the ancestral home of Ngaati Te Ata Waiohua.

Kaumatua George Flavell has worked tirelessly for thirty years alongside many landowners to preserve wahi tapu sites on the Peninsula, enabling Ngaati Te Ata to protect access to many of these sites now and for future generations.

Our organisation was established in 1994 and our work covers the entire 22,000-hectare Awhitu Peninsula – a giant, ancient sand dune.

With gentle harbour beaches on one side, the wild Tasman on the other and rare dune lakes in between, the Awhitu Peninsula is indeed a majestic landscape.

It is also a dynamic and fragile environment which needs and deserves protecting.

Community Commitment

Our objectives are to be beneficial to the community in the following ways:

• To promote, and where possible facilitate, the protection and restoration of the region’s natural features including waterways, iwi land and wetlands to create wildlife corridors across the region. 
• To carry out a dedicated pest reduction programme employing whichever means prove most effective.
• To enhance and expand Awhitu’s natural native vegetation, employing whichever means prove most effective.
• To work towards the successful reintroduction of lost species that would have once been present on the peninsula. 

In the first 24-years of operating our volunteer team planted more than 150,000 native trees and shrubs and saw over 30,000 pests destroyed.

In 2020 we were awarded significant funding by the Ministry of Primary Industries to increase the capacity of our nursery Te Korowai o Papatῡᾱnuku. With this investment and through our extremely effective partnerships with Ngaati Te Ata and Auckland Council, our productivity over the last four years has grown exponentially with a further 248,000 eco-sourced natives being planted across the peninsula alongside an amplified pest plant and animal management plan.

Our success is a reflection of the incredible care shown by our iwi partners, funding bodies, staff and all our volunteer supporters.

Our land sustains us, it is our future.

Latest News

22-23 Annual Report

We've had a very busy twelve months, read our Annual Report to learn about all the projects we're currently delivering here on the Peninsula. Read more...

Every Tues and Thurs 9.30am to midday our community plant nursery is open, producing native plants to benefit our environment. Come and see what we get up to, maybe lend a hand, you'll find we're a friendly bunch who enjoy a cuppa together afterwards. It's a great way to meet new friends. :-)