Some of you will remember Hutiwai — 434 hectares of native forest and wetland in the hills of North Taranaki, above the Tongaporutu coast, that we set out to buy and protect. It is tawa and kamahi forest threaded with beech, valley-floor wetland, and the recovering scars of former pine plantations that we always believed…

At the edge of a Taranaki wetland, sixteen children are growing a forest they will know for the rest of their lives. Makahu School is a small rural primary school — all sixteen pupils of it, led by principal Chris Mattock, who is both the head of the school and its main teacher. Over this…

On a cold Sunday in June, a small group of Southland trampers put the final plants of a six-year project into the ground — and stood back to look at a forest that is, quite literally, growing up around them. On 21 June 2026, the Southland Tramping and Outdoor Recreation Club (STORC) completed a planting…

Somewhere in the reeds at Opoutama, a bird you will almost never see is booming into the dusk. The matuku — the Australasian bittern, matuku-hūrepo — is one of the most secretive birds in New Zealand, and one of the most endangered. It is classed Nationally Critical, with fewer than 1,000 left in the whole…

Some gifts arrive as a sum of money. This one arrived as a wish: that somewhere in a New Zealand reserve, a grove of pūriri would grow, and keep growing, carrying a name that waited eighty years for a place of its own. Elizabeth Agnes Oliver died in Auckland on 13 September 2022, aged 94.…

We’re delighted to welcome Ben Haddrell as the Trust’s new part-time Reserve Manager for our Waikato and Bay of Plenty reserves. Ben brings a unique combination of practical conservation experience, environmental planning expertise, and a genuine passion for protecting New Zealand’s native forests. Based in Hamilton, he joins NFRT after working as Team Lead with…

Six months into our stewardship of Hutiwai Forest, the vital work of transforming this remarkable property into a thriving, permanently protected reserve is well underway. Since officially taking ownership in November 2025, we’ve been working closely with regional partners, neighbours and conservation experts to lay the foundations for the long-term restoration of this extraordinary old-growth…

We’ve launched our latest appeal to purchase 434 hectares of important native forest in urgent need of protection and restoration. Hutiwai borders the DOC owned Hutiwai and Mohakatino Conservation Areas and is part of the headwaters of the Rapanui and Mangahutiwai catchments in Tongaporutu, North Taranaki. It consists of areas of native bush and some…

As many of you are aware, extensive work has been underway at our Patui reserve to transform it into the wonderful sanctuary it has become. Originally, we had planned to commemorate this achievement with an official opening scheduled for the end of February, as a way to express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to…

Are you someone who is passionate about the restoration of the natural environment for indigenous flora and fauna and is capable of leading restoration work plans and programmes? The Native Forest Restoration Trust is offering a renewable one year contract covering its Western & Central Northland reserves. It is anticipated that the role will require…