Raukumara Pae maunga

What does it take to bring an entire forest back to life—and keep it thriving for generations?

In the Raukūmara, that question brings together Indigenous leadership, ancestral knowledge, environmental science and a bold ambition for the future of nature.

Raukūmara Pae Maunga is an iwi-led ecological and cultural revitalisation organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand. Led by Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou, our purpose is “Kia haumanu te mauri o te Raukūmara”—to restore the life force of our ancestral landscape.

Our work is grounded in a relationship with place that spans generations, and a responsibility to those yet to come.

An extraordinary landscape. A shared global challenge.

The Raukūmara is a mountain-to-sea landscape spanning approximately 250,000 hectares on the eastern North Island. Within that wider landscape, our documented operational restoration footprint covers around 130,000 hectares.

This forest holds whakapapa, identity, knowledge and belonging. It is a taonga protected by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, with its own mana and mauri, and an integral source of cultural, social and spiritual wellbeing for Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou.

Introduced predators and browsing animals threaten its ability to regenerate and sustain native life. Our response combines practical restoration at scale with a wider ambition: to strengthen the living relationships between forests, waterways, wildlife and people.

The challenge is rooted in our place, but the questions reach far beyond it. How do we reverse biodiversity loss? How do we understand recovery across an interconnected ecosystem? And how do we secure investment that lasts long enough for nature to respond?

Restoration with the people of the place

We bring iwi leadership, mātauranga Māori and environmental science together to guide action. Our programme combines predator and ungulate control, ecological monitoring, community relationships and the development of local skills and capability.

The outcomes we seek are tangible: seedlings growing beyond browsing height, native birds returning, healthier forest canopies and future generations able to sustain their relationships with the whenua.

Mātauranga, te reo me ōna tikanga of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Ngāti Porou shape this work. Partnerships must uphold iwi authority and the responsibilities that come with access to knowledge, data and ancestral places.

Connecting knowledge to better decisions

We want to help advance how living landscapes are understood and restored.

Our monitoring includes pest indices, bird observations, acoustic recorders, cameras, faecal DNA estimates of deer density, vegetation assessments and water testing. We are exploring how field evidence can connect with remote sensing, geospatial science, GeoAI and predictive modelling to reveal change and guide timely action.

We are interested in questions that matter to restoration teams and communities: Where is the forest recovering? What is holding recovery back? How do browsing, predation and extreme weather interact? Where will the next investment make the greatest difference?

We welcome research that can turn these questions into useful tools, stronger evidence and resilient ecological solutions.

Making finance work for living systems

Forests recover over decades. Funding decisions often operate on much shorter cycles. Closing that gap is central to our ambition.

We are exploring how public investment, philanthropy and high-integrity nature finance could support enduring restoration. Our interests include credible measurement and independent verification of carbon and biodiversity outcomes, alongside investment approaches that recognise ecological complexity and Indigenous rights.

These pathways are under development. We want partners who can help test their feasibility, establish robust evidence and ensure benefits flow to the landscape and its communities.

An invitation to build something meaningful

Through Horizon Europe matchmaking, we are seeking research and consortium partners working across biodiversity recovery, climate resilience, environmental intelligence, Indigenous knowledge governance and nature finance.

We bring an active restoration programme, iwi leadership, operational experience and relationships across tribal, conservation, research, political and investment networks. We offer the opportunity to connect research with real decisions at landscape scale.

We want to shape partnerships from the outset, with shared questions, equitable resourcing, clear responsibilities and lasting local and intergenerational capability.

Our ambition is a thriving Raukūmara that enriches our future—and partnerships that help the world understand what becomes possible when Indigenous leadership, science and enduring investment work together for nature.