About Us

Our mission is to promote the restoration and protection of bio-diverse ecosystems that support indigenous flora and fauna within the Ruamahanga River catchment.  As a registered charity non-profit organisation, we support local schools and rural community groups within the Wairarapa, creating restoration projects and educational activities around conservation and environmental heritage.

Our fundraising efforts offer benefits to schools and local communities within the Wairarapa and Ruamahanga catchment with a focus on supporting ‘Schools Behind Our River’ environmental educational activities, establishing bird corridors along rivers and tributaries within the catchment, and inspiring future generations by raising awareness of what Nature can teach us.

Long-term, we aim to encourage locally inspired ideas and creative nature-based innovations that protect the biodiversity of our environment, create new jobs, and provide long-term sustainable opportunities for our local businesses and farming communities.

For us, this means starting with our Schools Behind Our River project to deliver hands-on learning opportunities for school students to embrace environmental conservation projects that connect local communities with the health of their river catchment, Maori heritage, and sustainable biodiversity goals. 

Our Team includes trustees Chris Morrison, Campbell McLean, and Michael Birch.

Our Story began in 2017 when Chris Morrison and Campbell McLean were hiking the Kepler Track above Lake Te Anau.