Mana Tāhuna

About this operator

Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust is a kaupapa Māori organisation based in Tāhuna (Queenstown). It is not a commercial tour or activity business — it describes itself as an organisation committed to positive social, cultural and environmental development for the Whakatipu community.

The trust was established in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic acting as the catalyst for an idea that Tāhuna Māori had been building towards for several decades. Its own site states it now operates with 28 kaimahi (staff), engages with more than 250 whānau a month across its services, and is working to restore over 10,000 hectares of freshwater catchment in the Whakatipu. Leadership includes chief executive Michael Rewi and a board of trustees; the organisation's mission centres on the wellbeing of whānau and the health of the taiao (natural environment).

### What it does

Mana Tāhuna's work is organised into several streams:

• Taiao / environmental — restoration planting, pest control and catchment work, including a partnership with the Department of Conservation and Friends of Lake Hayes on the restoration of Wai Whakaata (Lake Hayes), and the Mt Dewar planting project with TreeSpace.
• Hauora / health and social services — including a Community Connector service delivered in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development.
• Kaupapa Māori / culture and connection — wānanga, community events and cultural capability support. In partnership with Queenstown Lakes District Council it delivers annual Waitangi Day and Matariki celebrations, and it runs wānanga in te reo Māori, toi Māori, kapa haka and mau rākau. It also supports organisations building confidence in engaging with te ao Māori, tikanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Toitū Mana Tāhuna — the trust's wholly owned commercial arm, delivering large-scale restoration project management, pest control, bank stabilisation, environmental and cultural consulting, and landscaping. The trust states that 100% of Toitū's profit returns to the community.

### Relevance to business events

Mana Tāhuna does not publish a packaged team-building, incentive or corporate activity product, so it should not be treated as a bookable activity supplier. Where it is genuinely relevant to a Queenstown business-events programme is in two specific areas its own site does describe: cultural capability support for organisations, and environmental restoration work through Toitū. Planners exploring a legacy, sustainability or cultural component to a Whakatipu programme would need to approach the trust directly to discuss what, if anything, is possible.

It suits organisers seeking a genuine local community and environmental partner rather than an off-the-shelf group activity.