With the backing of our passionate business community, industry partners, and visitors to the rohe, we’re continuing to grow the impact we can make – supporting those leading the way in protecting and regenerating our environment.
This year, funding will support a diverse range of complementary initiatives, from native revegetation and biodiversity restoration to waterway health and waste minimisation. Each project is designed not just for immediate impact, but to inspire lasting change and long-term systems shift across our community.
Beyond the grants, Love Wānaka works directly with local organisations through strategic partnerships with local businesses, amplifying resources and opportunities to strengthen conservation, community engagement, and regenerative practices across our rohe.
Let’s meet this year’s impact initiatives!
Impact Grant Recipients
Plastic Free Wānaka is on a mission to cut waste at its source by helping people shift from single-use to reuse. At the heart of this mahi is SUCfree Wānaka, a bold campaign aiming to make Wānaka the first single-use-cup-free town in Aotearoa – setting a national benchmark for community-driven change.
With $10,000 in Impact Grant funding, Plastic Free Wānaka is taking this kaupapa to the next level. Over the coming year, they will roll out a national storytelling campaign alongside aligned summer messaging with industry partners, making it easier than ever for visitors to choose reuse.
The funding will also support the tools and systems that make reuse practical and accessible: expanded mug libraries, new signage, digital resources, and a certification programme to help workplaces and events go SUCfree.
Together, these efforts create a ripple effect – empowering visitors, businesses, and residents to be part of a tangible shift toward a zero-waste future.
The Planetary Accounting Network (PAN) helps people and organisations make better environmental decisions through clear, science-based data that goes beyond carbon alone.
Using its innovative Planetary Facts framework, PAN measures impacts across air, land, water, waste, and more – giving a holistic picture of environmental health and wellbeing.
With $9,890 in Impact Grant funding, PAN will deliver a pilot case study with Wānaka Wastebusters, quantifying the benefits of their circular, zero-waste initiatives. By capturing these outcomes, the project will show how reuse, repair, and recycling contribute to reducing emissions and protecting ecosystems.
“With Love Wānaka’s support, we have the opportunity to explore how circular, regenerative initiatives deliver real environmental benefits. This pilot is a small but important step toward understanding what works and how we can support people and communities to make more sustainable choices” – Kate Meyer, CEO Planetary Accounting Network
WAI Wānaka accelerates community-led action to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems across the Upper Clutha.
This summer, their “Make it Count” campaign focuses on protecting Lake Wānaka, engaging holidaymakers and absentee homeowners – groups often hardest to reach – in safeguarding our region’s namesake.
With a $4,959 Love Wānaka Impact Grant, the campaign will deliver education, citizen science, water testing, and hands-on experiences that promote sustainable lake use and raise awareness of the unique pressures our lakes face due to growth, recreational activity, waste, and a changing climate.
Guided by Te Mana o te Wai, this mahi prioritises the wellbeing of freshwater, benefiting people, biodiversity, and local businesses, while fostering long-term stewardship of our iconic freshwater ecosystems.
Partner’s Choice Recipient
The Upper Clutha Tracks Trust is developing a 4.8km walking and cycling track along the Hāwea River, completing a 10km loop for locals and visitors. Alongside the track, the project aims to restore and enhance the river corridor.
A $2,500 Partner’s Choice Grant will contribute to native planting, educational signage about local biodiversity, and improved access for conservation work like pest control and wilding removal.
While a small piece of a much larger project, this support helps bring the vision of a healthier, more connected landscape closer to reality – creating spaces where people can enjoy nature and support its long-term wellbeing.
This project was selected as the recipient of our Partner’s Choice grant, voted on by Love Wānaka’s Impact Partners.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support from Love Wānaka and its Impact Partners. Every bit of help allows us to continue restoring the river corridor and creating spaces where people and nature can thrive together” – David Howard, Chair Upper Clutha Tracks Trust.
Additional Funding Recipients
Love Wānaka has allocated a further $10,515 through key strategic partnerships to support Te Kākano’s native habitat restoration in Wānaka.
This funding will support Te Kākano’s community nursery, grow engagement with schools, youth groups, businesses, and individuals, and co-fund partnered planting projects – including Love Wānaka’s industry planting days – scaling engagement across the community to create thriving native landscapes.
This funding includes a $5,375 grant from Air New Zealand’s Every Corner initiative, as well as a generous donation from the Siddhartha’s Intent Buddhist conference, further enabling local action to protect and regenerate Wānaka’s unique environment via key tourism activity.
Friends of Bullock Creek are on a mission to protect this stunning spring-fed wetland, from its headwaters to Lake Wānaka. The group restores ecological health by tackling pollution and invasive weeds, protecting wetlands, and creating habitats where native plants, fish, and wildlife thrive. Their work also delivers wider benefits – carbon storage, water purification, and natural flood management – safeguarding this vital waterway for the community and future generations. This small grant will go a long way to support these efforts and protect this little creek with a big heart.
Our focus from day one has been on the future: how can we be good tupuna / ancestors and lay the foundations for a thriving home long after we are gone. In addition to the grants awarded this year, a further $8,500 has been invested into the Love Wānaka Endowment Fund, with twenty percent of everything we raise enabling long-term, substantial funding opportunities into the future.
Supported by our partners at the 45South Foundation, these efforts are nurturing the seeds of a sustainable future and helping our environment thrive for years to come.
A huge thank you goes to our partners and supporters, the local business community, and visitors who support Love Wānaka’s mission of a thriving, regenerative future. Your generosity and belief in our work makes these grants possible and fuels the efforts of the incredible organisations leading environmental restoration across our region.
To continue supporting meaningful mahi in the Upper Clutha, we invite you to join us in protecting and regenerating Wānaka’s precious natural environment.
