From native planting and predator control to wetland restoration and freshwater action, the grants are backing people who are already doing the mahi to care for this place, and helping them keep it moving.
There’s a lovely sense of connection across these initiatives, with organisations building on each other’s work, sharing resources and bringing different skills and people together. It’s a good reminder that lasting change rarely comes from one project or one organisation alone.
And, of course, none of it happens without the people who make Love Wānaka possible. Contributions from local businesses, visitors and the wider community are turned into practical, on-the-ground action. It’s a brilliant example of what happens when we lead tourism, for good.
Let’s meet the six groups getting stuck into the mahi this year.
Mt Iron restoration and native planting
Te Kākano has been growing native plants and supporting community-led restoration across the Upper Clutha for more than 15 years. Its community nursery now grows around 15,000 eco-sourced native plants each year, with hundreds of volunteers helping with propagation, planting and ongoing maintenance.
This year, a $7,215 Impact Grant will support the first stage of a new multi-year restoration project at Mt Iron, with approximately 1,000 eco-sourced native seedlings to be planted on the southern slopes of the reserve.
The project will help improve biodiversity and ecological resilience in this iconic local landscape, while creating opportunities for residents, schools, businesses and visitors to support its restoration.
A further $3,335, raised through partnerships with Racers Edge and Skydive Wānaka, as well as donations from community planting days, will support Te Kākano’s wider native planting efforts across the region.
“We are deeply grateful to Love Wānaka for this generous grant and for their ongoing partnership. Their support has helped us to engage more volunteers, schools and visitors, deepening community connection to place, and accelerating restoration to ensure long-term ecological protection within the Mt Iron area and across the region. We value the shared vision that guides our work together, to protect the natural landscapes in our community.” – Anna Colombus, Te Kākano Trust Manager
Creating safer habitat for native wildlife
Predator Free Wānaka has built a strong community around protecting native wildlife, with more than 140 volunteers helping manage an extensive predator-control network across the Upper Clutha.
This $6,500 grant will go towards purchasing and installing additional traps, extending the network into new areas, and supporting the volunteers who deliver this mahi on the ground.
The work will help reduce the impact of introduced predators on native birds, reptiles and other wildlife, while supporting better breeding conditions and giving native species a safer place to thrive.
It’s another step in building a connected, community-led approach to predator control and restoration efforts across the region.
“On behalf of Predator Free Wanaka and our 140 volunteers, we are delighted and grateful to be recipients of a Love Wānaka Impact Grant. It means a lot to us that we have such great support from our community for our important work. This grant will help us extend our traplines from the 1,340 traps already installed and enable more monitoring to measure our impact. It is really important that we know we are both reducing predator numbers as well as achieving improvements in biodiversity.” – Ian Clarke, Chair of Predator Free Wānaka
Restoring Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs
For more than a decade, Friends of Bullock Creek has been working to restore the Bullock Creek Hatchery Springs, one of Wānaka’s most accessible (and beautiful) urban wetlands.
Bullock Creek is a rare spring-fed waterway, rising from the Cardrona Gravel Aquifer at the Stone Street Wetland and flowing through town and into Lake Wānaka. More than a decade of riparian planting has stabilised its banks, created habitat for fish and birdlife, and helped filter the water on its way to the lake.
This year’s $5,800 grant will help lock in a formal plant-supply partnership with Te Kākano Aotearoa, providing around 1,000 eco-sourced native seedlings a year across more than 20 different species. It gives the group a reliable source of plants for future planting seasons and keeps the restoration work moving year after year.
Protecting Mt Iron from invasive weeds
Formed in 2022, Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group is a volunteer-led group working to protect the region’s iconic landscapes and indigenous biodiversity from the threat of wilding pines and other invasive plant species. The group’s work has already included clearing 1,700 wilding pines from the 2,000-hectare Stevenson’s Peninsula site at Lake Wānaka, as well as removing wilding conifers from Mt Iron.
Now, the focus at Mt Iron is shifting to the invasive weeds threatening the native vegetation beginning to regenerate across the site. This grant will fund an innovative drone-based weed control trial, targeting invasive shrubs including cotoneaster and barberry in steep, difficult-to-access areas.
As well as protecting native vegetation and improving biodiversity, the trial will test a more efficient way of managing invasive species on challenging terrain, helping clear the way for native habitats to restore and thrive.
“UCWTG is thrilled that we can progress the control of exotic weeds on Mt Iron using drone technology to access the steep terrain. By removing the exotic weeds, the existing native plants will be able to flourish. Combined with restoration planting, the biodiversity on Mt Iron will gradually be restored.” – Jenny Cleland, Secretary of Upper Clutha Wilding Tree Group
Restoring the Hāwea River corridor
Upper Clutha Tracks Trust helps connect people with the landscapes around us through its community trail network. Funding will go toward restoration along the Hāwea River True Right Track, where native planting, weed management and improved access will help create better habitat and support ongoing conservation work.
The project is being delivered alongside Te Kākano and Predator Free Wānaka, bringing together planting, pest control and community involvement as part of the longer-term restoration of the river corridor.
The Trust will receive $5,000 through the Impact Grants programme, with a further $2,500 awarded through Love Wānaka’s Partner’s Choice Grant, voted on by Love Wānaka’s key partners and supporters.
“The Trust is delighted and honoured to be selected for both the Impact Grant and Partners Choice Grant. This funding will help keep the momentum up with native plantings on the new Hawea True Right Track. Working with Te Kakano and community volunteers, UCTT has already planted 350 native trees with support from last year’s Love Wanaka Grant and financial support from NZ Bike Trails Ltd. The development of new tracks creates an upward spiral in the area it provides access to… it’s a great cycle to kick start.” – John Wellington, Trustee, Upper Clutha Tracks Trust
Championing freshwater health
Wai Wānaka is the leading force for freshwater health in our region, driving real and lasting change across the Upper Clutha catchment, including Lake Wānaka, Lake Hāwea and the Mata-au/Clutha, Cardrona and Hāwea rivers.
This work runs deep, spanning community action, catchment monitoring and freshwater education, backed by research partnerships with the University of Otago and Lincoln University training the freshwater scientists our region will need in the years ahead.
The $4,735 in funding, raised through a partnership with Love Wānaka and Ripe Festival, will support Wai Wānaka’s ongoing freshwater action, backing the long-term, region-wide work needed to keep our rivers and lakes healthy for generations to come.
Alongside this year’s grants, we’re also building for the years ahead.
Every year, 80% of everything that’s donated to Love Wānaka goes into funding today’s environmental mahi, while the remaining 20% is invested into the Love Wānaka Endowment Fund. This year, that’s meant a further $9,395 going into the endowment, taking it to more than $25,000 in total. It’s a long-term investment designed to support this mahi across the Upper Clutha for generations to come.
Kā mihi nui (thank you) to our supporters: visitors, locals, businesses, volunteers and donors. Your generosity turns a whole lot of individual contributions into something bigger: practical, community-led action at a scale that makes a difference.
In particular, we’d like to acknowledge this year’s Impact Partners: Wildwire Wānaka, Wānaka Mountain Guides, Release Luxury Accommodation and Experiences, Racers Edge, New Zealand Photography Workshops, Brand+Butter, Flooring Xtra Wānaka, Active Massage, Copper Beech Lodge, Catch a Fish, Sweet Cheeks, and Bella Vista Wānaka, along with Queenstown Airport and Wānaka iSite.
It’s supporters like these, and everyone else who’s chipped in along the way, who make the real difference. We’re just glad to help connect this generosity to the people doing the mahi on the ground.
Want to learn more about the impact we’re making? Check out the latest Love Wānaka Impact Report for all the details.
And a big thank you to this year’s grant recipients for the mahi you put in, day in and day out. We can’t wait to see where it leads.
