We've put together an interactive programme and a line-up of more than 20 engaging speakers who will change how you think about your business. I'm so excited for what we'll learn together.
I could fill this blog with examples. But let's start with Rotorua Canopy Tours, one of the businesses we’ll hear from at this year’s Symposium. Since opening its doors 13 years ago, the tourism business has invested in predator control, restoration and meaningful visitor connection to nature. Taking guests on zipline adventures through native forest, this business has won seven major tourism awards and achieved B Corp certification. It’s a great example of business success hand in hand with nature regeneration.
I came away from my first conversation with Paul Button, CEO at Rotorua Canopy Tours, inspired and hopeful. I was struck by how clearly intertwined the success of his business is with restoring the forest where it operates. And even more by how important human connection through shared experience is to solving the crises facing nature.
Those themes run through this year’s Symposium.
Nature is the foundation for all businesses
We all rely on nature for the energy we use, the materials to make our buildings, equipment and products and the protection we enjoy from extremes of temperature and weather. In Aotearoa New Zealand, many of us also trade on the beauty and international reputation of our native ecosystems. Nature isn't a backdrop to business. It's the foundation.
But that foundation is under pressure. Here and around the world, the health of the natural world is under threat. That's a risk for all of us. It’s also an opportunity to lead. Hearing from people who are seizing that opportunity is a great invitation to all of us to do the same. Businesses that act now, building nature into their strategy, supply chains and planning, will be better placed to thrive in the years ahead.
Working with nature also supports your climate plans, strengthens business resilience and contributes to the wellbeing of your staff and communities. In a world where customers and investors are paying closer attention, it can open doors to new markets and signal that your business is built to last. When nature thrives, we all thrive.
Connections build success
None of this has to be done alone. Collaboration and connection offer solutions.
At the Symposium we'll help you make sense of nature and business, cut through the jargon and explore the latest developments in nature finance, credit markets, business strategy and innovation. You'll hear from organisations already taking action and connect with people who can help you take the next step.
We’ll form new connections and strengthen existing ones throughout the event. That will start with a half-day field trip Tuesday 4 August, when we’ll get hands-on with a regeneration project led by community nature group Te Pu-a-Nga Maara. That connection will continue the following day throughout the Symposium programme with audience interaction and small group discussions online and in person. Plus, there will be time to connect informally over kai and drinks.
The Symposium will bring together businesses, community groups, tangata whenua, landowners, NGOs, government agencies, philanthropy groups and finance experts all working toward the same goal. We’ll learn from each other and start conversations that can grow into collaborations reaching far beyond this year’s event to accomplish more than any of us could do alone.
Initiatives like the recently formed Tāmaki Tāiao Alliance show what this kind of collaboration can achieve. By bringing together community conservation projects with public, private and philanthropic partners, the Alliance is increasing funding and scaling landscape-level regeneration across the Tāmaki Auckland region. It's a model for what's possible when organisations stop working in silos and start working together.
The Symposium will be your chance to make similar connections and grow stronger partnerships. I hope to see you there.
Photo: Kimberley Savill, SBN's Head of Nature and lead organiser of the Nature & Business Symposium 2026