‘If you stand still in the forest, you can feel a heartbeat’

A nature sanctuary is not a short-term project.

The effort to preserve and enhance Maungatautari, the Waikato’s ‘Sanctuary Mountain’ is, by definition, a very very long-term mission. It is a place that is saving species and bringing joy to people, and will do for centuries to come.

It is literally a commitment that is as close to ‘forever’ as any that can be made by humans.

Such an undertaking therefore requires financial solutions that will provide support far beyond the usual horizons of conservation funding.

Which is why the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust has established the Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund at Momentum Waikato, the region’s community foundation.

The signing of the Deed of Gift for the Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund back in July. Front - Maungatautari Ecological Island trustees Don Scarlet, Norma Taute. Back - Momentum's Simon Wickham and Andrea Jones, Maungatautari trustees Graham Scott and Graham Parker, Maungatautari CEO Helen Hughes.

This is an endowment that welcomes public donations and provides investment income into the future, for the crucial bio-diversity endeavours upon this beautiful forested peak.

For Helen Hughes, the Chief Executive of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, its all about building a “a strong financial exo-skeleton” and realising their vision to “share the mauri and the mana of the maunga”.

“It is time for us to get beyond ‘one and done’ funding,” says Helen.

“The maunga is there forever, we want to ensure that our successors don’t have to ‘chase the coin’, so they’re not always going ‘cap in hand’ to ask for ‘more please’.”

“We’ve established the Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund at Momentum Waikato to provide a steady reliable income steam for the sanctuary.

“This move will also give confidence to those who want to support the project that there is real rigour in our financial planning and that the sanctuary really is here for the long term.”   

“Specifically, the Nest Egg Fund’s income will be used to replace and update the mountain’s predator-proof fence and other key infrastructure assets,” says Helen.

The perimeter fence has been in place since 2002, already over 20 years old, so its systematic replacement and updating will need to start in six to ten years. As it is, repairs and maintenance are constant, as trees fall and the weather takes its toll. The water-gates for the streams that cross the fence are all already being replaced.  

“Knowing that we’re starting now on providing for these coming expenses is super impressive,” says Helen.

A kakapo on Maungatautari.

The Nest Egg Fund is just one of the ways in which the Trust is aiming to be become operationally self-sufficient, it is also planning to increase visitor numbers, grow its education offerings, establish a reputation for world class scientific work, and to secure funding from bio-diversity credits.

Aotearoa has, of course, many conservation projects, but Maungatautari is unique.

“This is the only place where on a really large scale you can experience what mainland New Zealand looked and felt like before predators arrived,” says Helen.

“The goal of ‘Predator Free 2050’ is to remove five or six predator species from the nation’s land - on the maunga a dozen or more predator species are already gone!”

“It is the old growth native forest that we’re saving, so it thrives for its own sake, and so future generations can experience and learn from it. You can already see an abundance on the forest floor and hear an amount of bird song that you won’t find anywhere else.”

Helen says she experiences a “super pure amazing force” on Maungatautari.

“You see people going in for the first time, having an ordinary day up to that point, and then when they come out you can see the transformation in them!

“Maaori talk about the maunga being a lifeforce and it absolutely is. If you stand still enough you can feel a heartbeat.”

To donate to the Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund, visit momentumwaikato.nz/MaungatautariSanctuaryNestEggFund.