A $540,000 BayTrust grant will help one of the Bay’s most successful community-led environmental restoration programmes maintain momentum just as central government funding ends.

The new funding, spread over the next three years, will enable Project Parore to retain its skilled restoration team, continue working alongside landowners and expand its work across the northern catchments that feed Tauranga Harbour.

January 2026 retirement and revegetation planting (planted July 2023). Photo / Supplied

Project Parore’s five-year $1.75 million Ministry for the Environment Jobs for Nature programme draws to a close this year.

Project Parore chair David Peters says BayTrust’s support provides certainty at exactly the right time.

“We are very pleased. Multi-year funding provides us with peace of mind that we can retain a paid team and continue to expand our impact,” he says.

“Our first priority is to sustain ourselves so that we can continue our work. Water and biodiversity do not respect lines drawn on maps.

“Our goal is to expand to cover all of the catchments that feed the northern Tauranga Harbour.”

Project Parore staff, board members and landowners. Photo / Supplied

Project Parore works with landowners, volunteers, hapū, councils, schools and community groups to restore native habitats, retire erosion-prone land, protect waterways and improve the quality of freshwater flowing into Tauranga Harbour.

Over the past five years, Project Parore has planted more than 260,000 native plants to improve freshwater flowing into Tauranga Harbour. Photo / Supplied

Over the past five years the organisation has planted more than 260,000 native plants, exceeded most of its restoration targets, received the inaugural NZ Landcare Trust Catchment Group Award for the Bay of Plenty region at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2022, and won national recognition through the 2024 Cawthron Institute Freshwater Champions Award.

The first increase in northern Tauranga Harbour seagrass has also been recorded after decades of decline, providing encouraging evidence that the wider ecosystem is beginning to recover.

“Seagrass provides important habitat for the native parore fish [also known as black snapper, luderick, blackfish or black bream], along with many other species, so its recovery is encouraging evidence that the wider ecosystem is beginning to improve,” Peters says.

BayTrust’s new grant will support Project Parore’s goal of planting a further 210,000 native plants over the next three years while continuing to restore waterways, wetlands and biodiversity across the northern catchments that feed Tauranga Harbour.

Project Parore is also encouraging more people to become involved in protecting their environment.

Residents are invited to join the Renaturing Katikati volunteer programme, with activities including seed collection, nursery work, planting and protecting native habitat primarily on public esplanades and reserves.

The organisation is also seeking donated goods and services for its annual charity auction, which will be held this spring, with proceeds helping fund future restoration projects.

“Environmental restoration is an intergenerational challenge,” Peters explains.

“A productive and sustainable community needs healthy soil, clean waterways and thriving habitats. Whether it’s volunteering, donating auction items or supporting our work in other ways, every contribution helps us restore the catchments that feed Tauranga Harbour.”

Wetland on Pukekauri Farms in Te Mania catchment. Photo / Supplied

BayTrust CEO Alastair Rhodes says Project Parore has established an outstanding track record by bringing together landowners, volunteers, iwi, councils, scientists and the wider community to improve the region’s environment.

“Project Parore has demonstrated that long-term collaboration can deliver measurable environmental gains. From restoring waterways and native habitats to supporting biodiversity and improving freshwater quality, the organisation is making a real difference.

“We’re proud to support the next phase of this work. Our $540,000 multi-year grant will help maintain the momentum already achieved while delivering lasting benefits for Tauranga Harbour and the communities that depend on it.”