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11 Jul 2025, 10:47 AM

Te Ohonga o Mahuri pest control & river restoration project

A group of kaimahi wearing hi-viz gathered for a group photo outside a marae.

The Te Ohonga o Mahuri team alongside NRC representatives celebrate the launch of the five-year multi-agency restoration project.

Te Ohonga o Mahuri is a newly launched five-year restoration project spanning 1200 hectares of whenua Māori near Kaikohe.

Led by Te Korowai Arahi Trust, the kaupapa employs former jobseekers to restore te taiao through pest control, weed management and biodiversity monitoring and is supported by NRC, MSD and SkyCity Trust. 

We’re proud to be working alongside Te Korowai Arahi Trust to support their river restoration and pest control project on 1200 hectares of Māori land near Kaikohe.

Te Ohonga o Mahuri is a five-year multi-agency project that brings together local hapū through the Trust, in collaboration with Northland Regional Council, the Ministry of Social Development, and SkyCity Auckland Community Trust. 

 

Working under the guidance of Trust kaimahi, ten former jobseekers are in full-time employment - helping to restore te taiao (the environment) while gaining skills such as chainsaw operation, track and infrastructure construction and maintenance, pest control, and tikanga Māori.

The first steps are already underway: 

  • installing traps to control possums and feral cats 

  • weed control on willow, privet, wilding pine, and wattle 

  • identifying native taonga species present in the area. 

We’re supporting the project with funding, pest control and biodiversity monitoring expertise, training, and mapping. 

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