Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust is a Wānaka non-profit organisation that eco-sources seeds from the Upper Clutha area, raises seedlings in our extensive nursery, and facilitates community-based native planting and habitat restoration.
We foster community engagement with native habitat restoration, through plant propagation, planting, maintenance, education and ongoing participation.
Read our 2024 impact report to learn more about work and achivements.
Collaboration with local community groups, schools, businesses and individuals is central to our promotion of hands-on community land care.
Watering team – Volunteers needed!
We’re beginning to plan for the upcoming watering season. It may feel strange to think about watering after all the recent rain, but we know the hot, dry months are just around the corner.
We are now putting together our watering teams for the season and would love your help! The more people involved, the lighter the workload for everyone. We have four sites and are looking for 6–10 volunteers per site. With six people in a team, the time commitment is only around 2.5 hours for one day every six weeks.
Watering needs vary depending on the season and weather, but typically runs from December through to March. If you’d like to help keep our young plants thriving, we’d love to hear from you!
If you are interested, please, get in touch!
Get Involved
Help us rebuild local native habitats one plant at a time. Volunteers play an integral part in our efforts and we welcome anyone, of all ages and skills, who are keen to get involved and learn about plant propagation and habitat restoration. Your help can really make a difference.
Nursery sessions
Our nursery sessions run throughout the year, bringing together a community of volunteers passionate about making a difference in habitat restoration around the Upper Clutha region.
Nursery volunteer days are open to all members of the public and are held every Tuesday & Wednesday from 9am-12pm (spring/summer | October-March) and 1pm-4pm (autumn/winter | April-September).
The nursery sessions will be taking a break from December 24th till 5th January. The session for the year will be Tuesday 6th January.
These volunteer sessions teach propagation/cultivation techniques, leading on to planting and nurturing of the young plants on project sites and are guided by our Nursery Manager. No specific skills or experience are needed, simply drop in and join us.
From May to September, some of the nursery sessions will be “in the field” at planting sites. Find out by emailing us or checking our FB page.
Access to the nursery is through the QEII Reserve, either through the gate or over the nursery stile. See our location and directions here.
Delicious coffee from our local Venus Coffee roastery, tea and snacks are provided alongside great company and magnificent views of Lake Wānaka.
Community planting sessions
Our planting sessions take place in spring, autumn and winter, with maintenance sessions throughout the year to help look after the plants and habitat restoration areas.
These sessions are a great opportunity to see first-hand where the plants that are grown in our nursery go.
This year, we planted over 4,000 plants with the community! We are now busy looking after the plants we have put in the ground and organising our watering team. It was a big job!
We can’t thank our volunteers enough! We will let you know the dates of our planting sessions soon for 2026!
Maintenance sessions
We plant thousands of native plants every year and it is imperative to ensure that they thrive out in the habitat restoration areas. Many hands make light work so we encourage volunteers to help with watering and plant maintenance throughout the year.
There are watering drums set up at various planting sites, Bremner Bay, and Albert Town (bottom of Gunn Road, and Templeton Park on Kinnibeg Street, Kahuika), Lakeside (just past the Wanaka Yacht Club, and Domini Park so feel free to water the plants when you’re walking or biking along these areas. Alternatively, get in touch with us if you’d like to be part of our watering roster which includes the following sites, Bremner Bay, Gunn Road, Domini Park and Lismore Park.
Interwoven project
The Interwoven project is about weaving harakeke plant guards to protect our native plants. It’s also about weaving together people, culture and our environment.
We have just finished a series of workshops to teach interested people to learn how to weave these amazing plant guards.
The workshops are free to attend, but you do need to register online here. There are 20 spots for each workshop. Keep checking back with more dates for this project. The final workshop will be held at the nursery on Friday 12th December from 4pm till 5.30. Followed by A celebration to finish of a great year!
