Community-led Regeneration - June Newsletter
Kia ora,
This month, our friends at Ma Earth are launching Funding Round 3 - going live today, with $500k in matching grants amplifying community gifts to grassroots, community-led nature projects worldwide. Every donation is matched until 21 July.
Learn more at maearth.com
The work of healing the land is rarely done by large institutions. It is done by the people who live closest to it - the kaitiaki [guardians], growers, fishers and teachers who know a place well enough to tend it back to life. Ma Earth exists to put resources directly into their hands.
Moving resources into land-based, community-led projects is what a matching round is built for. Rather than reward the largest cheque, the community funding model widens the circle of care: every gift, however small, helps unlock more from the matching pool. A hundred people each giving a little can carry a project further than a single donor ever could - so it is participation itself, not the size of the gift, that does the work.
Behind every project is the same conviction - that the wellbeing of people and the health of the natural world are not separate matters, and that the most worthwhile work is often the kind whose fruit we plant for those who come after.
Biome Trust is proud to stand alongside the 150+ organisations in the Ma Earth funding round who are leading the way in local regeneration. We invite you to join us in supporting hundreds of land stewards caring for place across the globe.
You will find some of the homegrown projects from Aotearoa below, along with our latest giftee updates and news from across the community.
Ngā mihi aroha,
Biome Trust
Aotearoa NZ Projects
Mangarara - The Family Farm is regenerating its Hawke's Bay land, bringing community in to heal soil, water & habitat together. More
Kōanga Institute is honouring the local waterways, tending to the rivers that run through the land alongside its heritage seed work. More
Mangaroa Farms is planting a fruit and forage walking trail on their 4km loop track - fruit-bearing trees and medicinal plants that both build soil and feed future generations. More
Taranaki Mounga Project is clearing invasive predators from Kaitake and Pukeiti maunga - vital guardians within Te Kāhui Tupua, a collective of sacred peaks in Taranaki.
On Kaitake, cameras now show more kiwi than possums. More
Waiheke Marine Project's Kelp Gardeners are rebuilding kelp forests and marine life off Waiheke Island through community guardianship. More
Where's The Food Charitable Trust is building a food hub for the Wairarapa region, connecting growers, surplus kai and local community. More
The Food Farm is offering free or low-cost food-growing education programmes to schools, families, and community organisations - removing financial barriers to help more people discover the joy and benefits of growing their own fresh food organically. More
Papawhakaritorito Trust is regenerating Indigenous healing grounds at Kaitoke - restoring what were once pasture paddocks to biodiversity corridors, native forests and wetland habitats through management of invasive species and the planting of thousands of native trees. More
Ruamāhanga Farm Foundation is reviving the Ruamāhanga River in Wairarapa through pairing conservation with creativity in local schools - inspiring the next generation to cherish and protect it. More
The Learning Environment is a 178 acre place-based community-led organisation cultivating an integrated model for learning, wellbeing, and regeneration in Whanganui - a place where restoring ecology, learning and cultivating wellbeing happen as one. More
Native Forest Restoration Trust protects and restores some of Aotearoa’s most significant remaining native forest ecosystems - replanting land so indigenous trees and birds can return. More
Giftee Updates
Rewiring Aotearoa welcomes the new Home Energy Fund — low-interest loans for solar, batteries and heat pumps. More
Kelmarna Gardens launched its first Annual Appeal, a supporter matching every dollar up to $50,000. More
UNDERGROUND Festival opened applications for its first-ever North Island edition — 10–11 March 2027, Waikato. More
Organics Aotearoa reports organics growing at twice the food-and-fibre rate ($1.2B/yr); making it an election issue. More
Tīwaiwaka hosts Part Two of its "Mauri First" webinar with Pā and Wiremu Wharepapa of Raukūmara Pae Maunga. More
Roebuck Farms takes its market-gardening intensive on a four-farm Australia Winter Tour this July–August. More
Permaculture in New Zealand launched a community survey to shape its next focus nationwide. More
Garden to Table have released their annual report, reaching 318 schools and 33,000 tamariki this year. More
Kaicycle harvested yams with kindy kids — "little rubies in the soil" and offers free school visits next term. More
Ruamāhanga Farm Foundation hosted Featherston School for bush-classroom river explores and wetland eel-monitoring. More
Toru Education published a winter roundup of regional regenerative-living events across greater Wellington. More
Common Unity invites its community to celebrate Matariki on Thursday 9 July — kai, crafts and reflection. More
4 A Better City now grows and supplies fresh vegetables to the Naenae Fruit & Vege Co-op. More
The Gift Trust is connecting donors with community organisations across Aotearoa, making generosity easier to direct where it lands well. More
Additional News
RestorLife Awards 2026 named ten finalists in protecting & restoring nature from 320+ applications - launching matched crowdfunding via Ma Earth. More
Puketī Forest Trust & DOC invite whānau to a community Matariki celebration in Puketī ngāhere on 9 July — culture, conservation and kai. More
Greenpeace Aotearoa's Regenerative Farming Revolution campaign calls for a shift from synthetic-nitrogen dairying to regenerative systems. More
The Aotearoa Grower’s Hui was hosted 23-25th June in Rotorua, well attended by kai producers across Aotearoa. More
“It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.
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