Wānaka, with its breathtaking landscapes and vibrant community, is not just a destination. It’s a place where the spirit of guardianship and sustainability thrives. Our local businesses are champions of eco-friendly practices, making significant contributions to the environment and community.
At the heart of this movement are our Love Wānaka Impact Partners—businesses who’ve committed to donating 1% of their proceeds each year to local environmental action. This pledge supports grassroots conservation, biodiversity projects, and climate initiatives right here in our rohe (region), ensuring that tourism gives back more than it takes. From native tree planting and predator trapping to waterway health and carbon reduction, these partners are funding tangible change, year after year.
Here, we celebrate our Impact Partners and the other businesses leading the charge towards a regenerative future for Wānaka’s tourism industry.
Wildwire Wānaka
Wildwire is the world’s highest waterfall cable climb, and their via ferrata experience lets you scale dramatic cliffs beside cascading water, with options for all levels. Set on private land along the Wānaka–Mt Aspiring Road, Wildwire works hand-in-hand with the Longview Environmental Trust, maintaining traplines for stoats and possums across the property. Back in 2018, they planted 350 indigenous trees that now provide habitat for native birds and insects. And now, as Love Wānaka Impact Partners, every climb supports ongoing restoration mahi (work), helping the land regenerate as adventurers explore it.
Wānaka Mountain Guides
Run by certified New Zealand mountain guides who’ve made these peaks their home, Wānaka Mountain Guides brings genuine local knowledge built through years of guiding in the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. Whether you’re attempting your first alpine summit, learning to ice climb, or refining technical skills, you’re working with guides who know these mountains well and care about their future. Alongside Love Wānaka, they’re also backing Protect Our Winters NZ. It’s mountain guiding with purpose: sharing skills, building confidence, and fostering respect for these wild places.
Catch a Fish
Catch a Fish brings a science-led approach to every trip: encouraging catch and release to protect fish stocks, sharing data with Fish & Game to support population management, contributing to Wai Wānaka‘s lake health monitoring, and funding action for our waterways via their partnership with Love Wānaka. Their commitment to the environment also extends to how they move across the water. A state-of-the-art electric trolling motor powered by solar-charged batteries replaces the hum of petrol engines with the lap of water and bird calls overhead, moving quietly across Lakes Wānaka, Hāwea, and Wakatipu without fumes or noise. Catch a Fish also support local where possible, with pastries from Pembroke Patisserie, and fresh catches prepared by chefs at Arc. As a carbon-neutral operation, every charter protects the lakes it explores.
New Zealand Photography Workshops
Founded by professional photographer Richard Young in 2013, New Zealand Photography Workshops (NZPW) combines expert guidance with immersive experiences that help locals and visitors capture our native landscapes and wildlife. But beyond technical skill, NZPW teaches environmental responsibility, ensuring that the places being photographed are protected and preserved for years to come. As a Qualmark Gold-Award certified operator approved to guide in New Zealand’s National Parks, NZPW leads workshops ranging from single-day courses to twenty-day expeditions, always prioritising small group sizes and meaningful conversations about the places being explored. Their commitment extends beyond the lens: completely carbon neutral and guided by Nature First principles, NZPW actively plants native trees to offset emissions, ensuring that business success feeds directly back into the protection of the landscapes that make it possible.
Release NZ
Release NZ curates a collection of luxury holiday homes across Wānaka, from lakeside retreats to high-country lodges. Here, luxury doesn’t mean excess. Smart heating systems only activate when needed, eliminating energy waste from constantly heated empty homes. Linen changes are offered only for stays beyond seven nights, recycling bins come standard with clear guidelines, and all toiletries are New Zealand-made, naturally based, organic, and refillable. The experiences they arrange connect guests with local people and places: backcountry picnics, private vineyard dinners, guided adventures. Plus, every stay supports our environment through their contribution to Love Wānaka. It’s thoughtful hospitality where comfort and care for the environment are woven together.
Copper Beech Lodge Wānaka
Copper Beech Lodge has crafted a space that reflects their love for this place: welcoming, genuine, and deeply committed to looking after it. They source local wherever possible, support community initiatives, and are actively working to reduce their environmental footprint. As well as supporting Love Wānaka with 1% of their annual proceeds, they also invite their guests to give with opt-in guest donations. For them, hosting isn’t just about providing a bed—it’s about sharing their connection to Wānaka and ensuring it remains the kind of place worth visiting for generations to come.
Racers Edge
For 35 years, Racers Edge has been the place locals go for gear that won’t let them down, from boots for winter on the mountain to bike helmets for after-work laps. Started in 1989 in an old fruit shop complete with a boot-drying fridge, this business has grown alongside Wānaka itself. As founding Love Wānaka Impact Partners, 1% of Racers Edge’s proceeds now support Te Kākano and the Bike Glendhu Planting Promise, with a goal of 30,000 native trees by 2030. Love Wānaka helps facilitates this giving and connects their customers with opportunities to accelerate this impact by adding a donation to their purchase.
Active Massage
At Active Massage, care is built into everything they do: whether it’s caring for their clients, the wider community, or the region, Active Massage has created a place where well-being for individuals and well-being for the planet are deeply connected.
Active Massage measures their carbon footprint, offer community pricing for mountain guides, healthcare workers, and others who keep Wānaka running. They donate time and resources to causes from the Cancer Society to LandSAR. To align with their philosophy: “each massage is a moment of care for an individual; our donation to Love Wānaka is a moment of care for Wānaka itself.” It’s wellness that extends far beyond the treatment table.
