The Tāmaki Taiao Alliance will deliver landscape-scale regeneration across seven high-impact foundation projects.
"Tāmaki Auckland is facing an ecological crisis that threatens our health, economy and our children's future,” says SBN founder and CEO Rachel Brown.
“With 96% of our wetlands already lost, urban growth degrading the forests and streams that remain, and sediment choking the Hauraki Gulf, it’s clear that fragmented efforts are simply not enough. We need a coordinated response at scale and the investment to empower communities to restore.
"Our vision is a region alive with birdsong and connected communities, and we're seeing that vision take shape."
The Tāmaki Taiao Alliance operates as an incubator for nature, providing structure, expertise and capital while delivering measurable impact across seven projects from the Hauraki Gulf to Manukau Harbour and Kaipara Harbour, from Rodney to South Auckland.
Each project is mana whenua-led or connected to mana whenua, ensuring cultural integrity and intergenerational sustainability.
The projects target critical environmental outcomes, including pest-free islands, a thriving Hauraki Gulf, protection of drinking water supplies, restoration of degraded streams, increased tree canopy cover and community employment opportunities.
“We’re building a coordinated framework that unites conservation groups and will attract local and global investment. We’re bringing together mana whenua, community groups, business, philanthropy and government to protect and regenerate nature.
"The Alliance is piloting a new way of collaborating. We aim to expand it to include many more conservation groups in Tāmaki Auckland and, ultimately, replicate the model in other regions."
Auckland Council, Foundation North and OfficeMax are already backing the Tāmaki Taiao Alliance, with two additional partners about to join.
Tāmaki Taiao Alliance partner Auckland Council says that coordinated effort is essential to reversing environmental decline at the scale required.
“The Tāmaki Taiao Alliance is a powerful co-investment opportunity for businesses and agencies to amplify their conservation impact, protect taonga species and grow community-led action,” says Sam Hill, General Manager, Environmental Services.
“By strengthening collaboration with iwi, connecting conservation groups, removing funding barriers, and building social capital the Alliance enables us to deliver more effective benefits for people and nature in Tāmaki Makaurau,”
The seven foundation projects are: Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Te Pu-a-Nga Maara, Te Ara Hīkoi: Friends of Te Wairoa, The Forest Bridge Trust: Ngāhere Whakawhiti and Islands of Hope collective, which includes Tū Mai Taonga, Te Korowai o Waiheke and Pest-free Kawau Island.
“Being part of the Tāmaki Taiao Alliance strengthens our role as kaitiaki,” says Ephraim Morgan-Irvine, Te Pourewa Operations Manager for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
“It allows us to uplift community action, restore our whenua and waterways, and ensure future generations inherit a thriving environment. The Alliance creates the collective structure needed for real, long-term impact.”
The Tāmaki Taiao Alliance is seeking to raise $3 million for the three-year pilot programme, with $1.4 million already secured. The initiative aims to stimulate investment in nature regeneration both here and globally.
“We're inviting organisations to join us as Alliance partners,” says SBN’s Rachel Brown.
“Every dollar they contribute to the fund will be matched by our foundation fund partners. This will double their impact.
“This is the opportunity for organisations to demonstrate environmental leadership while supporting healthy communities and nature-based jobs across the wider Tāmaki Auckland region.”
Biodiversity loss is ranked as the third most severe threat humanity will face in the next 10 years, according to the World Economic Forum.
"When ecosystems fail, we lose drinking water, flood protection, climate regulation and Auckland's global reputation. Together, we can restore Auckland's nature and leave a legacy of life, hope and resilience for future generations.”