Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund - ‘If you stand still in the forest, you can feel a heartbeat’
Published on 24 May, 2026
Above: Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain Trustees Don Scarlet and Norma Taute sign the Fund's Deed of Gift. Photo: Key Imagery.
From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2025 - see full report in PDF.
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 saves species and brings joy to people, and will do for centuries to come.
It is literally a commitment as close to ‘forever’ as any that can be made by humans.
Such an undertaking 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.
This is an endowment that welcomes public donations to support the crucial bio-diversity efforts 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”.
“The mountain 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’,” says Helen.
“We’ve established the Maungatautari Nest Egg Fund at Momentum Waikato to provide a steady reliable income steam for the Sanctuary.
“This move will also give confidence to current and potential supporters of the project that there is real rigour in our financial planning and that the sanctuary really is here for the long term.”
The Nest Egg Fund is just one of the ways in which the Trust is becoming more operationally self-sufficient - it is also increasing visitor numbers, growing its education offerings, progressing and promoting its world-class scientific work, and offering bio-diversity credits.
Aotearoa has 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 find out more and donate to the Maungatautari Sanctuary Nest Egg Fund, visit momentumwaikato.nz/maungatautarisanctuarynesteggfund.
Photos: Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain.
