Matariki Plantings on Tauhara Maunga 2025
To celebrate Matariki 2025 we supported the Tauhara Collective, to put on the second ‘Matariki ki te Maunga’. You can read about the first event in 2024 here.
The long term aim is to restore the native korowai of Tauhara Maunga (Mt Tauhara) through the project, Tauhara Ngahau. By recloaking the maunga in native plants biodiversity can thrive there once more. Learn more about the Tauhara Ngahau Restoration Project here or through the video.
Tamariki Planting Day
600 tamariki came along from nine different kura and kōhanga reo to participate in the event and plant 4000 trees. We held a reo Māori welcome, planting demonstration and safety briefing for kura kaupapa and kōhanga reo and this was attended by tamariki from Te Kura o Te Maunga i Kitea Rumaki, Atawhai Te Kohanga Reo, TKKM o Whakarewa I Te Reo Ki Tuwharetoa, Tauhara Primary Rumaki- Tauhara Te Ahorangi, and Te Kura o Waitahanui. Once those tamariki headed off to start planting, a second welcome and briefing was held in English for Taupō Primary School, Mihi School, Hilltop School, and St Patrick’s Catholic School.
To celebrate Matariki, the tamariki (children) wrote their wishes for the new year on small strips of brown paper. These were planted with their first tree and sent to Hiwa-i-te-rangi (the wishing star). This was a lovely way to celebrate Matariki together in such a special place.
Ngā Mahi Kaha had done the site preparation, so holes had already been dug and plants laid out. Despite some of the terrain this year being very steep, the plants went in the ground quickly and the students were soon enjoying hot soup and sausages from He Akina.
It was another amazing event in a stunning location. The students loved running down steep hills with the wind in their faces, kārearea (endangered native falcons) watching them, and the view of the lake stretched out in front of them. There really is something special about planting on the maunga and improving our local environment for future generations.
Trees for Survival Planting with St Patrick’s Catholic School
St Patrick’s Catholic School Taupō are part of the Trees for Survival (TFS) programme, which is facilitated at their school by Kids Greening Taupō. They had grown 1000 trees from seed and looked after them in their shade house for the past year. These were sorted out and the biggest 800 were taken to Mt Tauhara and put into the whenua by their students as part of the Matariki planting event. These plants were laid out on a VERY steep site this year and the students loved being like mountain goats clambering over the hillside to plant them. They could see that these trees will help hold the hillside up and prevent erosion in the future.
Saturday Community Planting Event
On the Saturday, after a frosty 5:30am hautapu ceremony, another 2000 plants were put into the ground during a community planting day. Mana whenua, KGT student leaders and whanau, and the community came along to restore the maunga, which has a special place in the heart of Taupō locals. It really was another fantastic day of collaboration. See photos below.
Our Team! Robyn, Heidi, Rachel and Naomi
Thank You!
This is a truly collaborative project that we are honoured to be involved in. About 6000 plants were planted in total. He Tipu provided most of the plants, with Tongariro Corrections and Trees for Survival boosting the numbers. He Akina Limited was amazing, providing kai and other essentials. The site preparation was done by Ngā Mahi Kaha and it was tough work on steep hills! They did an amazing job. We are really excited to see the number of plants put onto the maunga and we can’t wait to see them grow. We hope to be able to continue to support this awesome kaupapa.
The Nga Mahi Kaha Team with our coordinators, Robyn, Heidi and Rachel, getting the planting site ready.
