Ngā Kaimanaaki o Te Waimapihi

Formerly known as the Polhill Protectors and now known by our gifted name Ngā Kaimanaaki o Te Waimapihi, we’re a community group focusing on restoring te taiao known as Waimapihi Reserve. In 70ha of scruffy regenerating gullies bordered by the suburbs of Brooklyn, Highbury and Aro Valley, something extraordinary is happening. For the first time in a century rare birds like kākā and tīeke are living together with people, in the wild, in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. The return of Aotearoa’s endemic originals into this sweet slice of the Town Belt is courtesy of spillover from the Zealandia Ecosanctuary. Waimapihi is home to all sorts of crawling, jumping, swimming, and flying taonga species. Ngā Kaimanaaki are the patrons of the reserve who are laying out the welcome mat for these taonga- by trapping predators, engaging in bush restoration efforts, awa monitoring, and supporting advocacy. Our kaupapa is to be neighbourly with our natives and to do so inclusively. The possibility of Waimapihi is that people, pets and native taonga can get on progressively.