Biodiversity and restoration
Collaborating with others to protect and enhance Aotearoa’s unique ecosystems.
At Whirika, we’re dedicated to fostering partnerships between people and nature. We work with people at their place to create innovative and sustainable solutions that safeguard Aotearoa’s precious ecosystems.
With a focus on protecting our unique biodiversity, restoring ecosystems, and ensuring landscape resilience for future generations, our team is committed to making a lasting impact on the health of our environment.
Whether you’re seeking to enhance ecological values, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through native afforestation, or plan for climate and water resilience, we prioritize environmental health in every solution we pursue.
Mike Thorsen
Jacinta Steeds
Kimberley Collins
Craig Wilson
Chris Garden
Rhys Millar
Keiko Hashiba
Liz Sherwood
Case studies
Exploring food economies in Otago
We explored local food economies in Otago, working with Otago Polytechnic, and created a toolkit for communities. Local Food Economies (LFE) is the economic and social system for growing, processing, distributing and consuming food within an area. This builds social...
Maori agribusiness opportunities
Whirika has been working with more than twenty Māori landholder groups across Te Waipounamu South Island to identify and assess the potential for diversifying land use for whānau with a particular interest mahinga kai. The focus has been on the feasibility of...
Integrated catchment management planning
In Te Hakapupu catchment, East Otago, historic farming practices and more recent forestry operations in the catchment have led to an increase in sediment in waterways and wetlands, degrading cultural and biodiversity values. Whirika is working with mana whenua,...