Regenerating ecosystems. Restoring opportunity.
Te Whāngai Trust delivers large-scale native planting and maintenance projects across Tāmaki Makaurau - while creating real employment pathways for people facing barriers to sustainable workforce participation.
Our Story.
Te Whāngai Trust was established by Adrienne and Gary Dalton in 2007, following the loss of their daughter Leigh.
Leigh cared deeply about both people and the environment. Her legacy became part of a bigger idea the Daltons had already begun to explore through restoration work on their Waikato farm:
what happens when people who have been overlooked are given meaningful work,
genuine responsibility and someone who believes in what they can contribute?
Working alongside people on practical restoration projects showed them that ability was rarely the issue. Access to opportunity, support and connection often was.
Te Whāngai was created around a simple response: bring people, work and whenua together.
What began with native restoration and one nursery grew into a social enterprise where commercial environmental work helps create employment, training and wellbeing outcomes. Nearly two decades later, the operating environment has changed considerably, but that founding idea remains at the heart of the Trust.
Timeline.
2007: Te Whāngai Trust Established by Adrienne and Gary Dalton.
2009: Waikato Sustainable Business of the Year, Trailblazer Award, Franklin Community Worker of the Year.
2012: Recognised by the Sustainable Business Network for Te Whāngai Trust's innovative model combining environmental restoration with employment and training pathways.
2016: Awarded the Supreme Green Ribbon Award by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry.
2017: Awarded by DoC as Community Nursery of the Year, Plant Conservation Award, and Auckland Balance Environmental Award.
2023: Commended for Social Impact at the Sustainable Business Network awards.
Our kaupapa
Te Whāngai means to nurture, to care for, to foster growth.
We exist to:
Provide meaningful, supported employment for people who have been excluded from the labour market.
Strengthen community connection to whenua and waterways.
Restore degraded ecosystems through high-quality native planting and maintenance.
Deliver measurable social outcomes alongside environmental impact.
We do not treat these as separate goals. They are one system.
Our strategy.
To provide community-centred opportunity for people who are facing vulnerability through purposeful opportunities, respect and support, inspiring national change.
Our Purpose
A New Zealand empowered by the contributions of people of all backgrounds and abilities.
Our Vision
Whanaungatanga
Kaitiakitanga
Manaakitanga
Our Values
Prioritise the transition from dependency into self-reliance and wellbeing
Connect people to their place and the environment
Honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Our Principles
How our model works.
Our delivery model is built around three integrated components:
Environmental Restoration.
We supply eco-sourced native plants, manage planting at the contract scale, and deliver structured maintenance programmes aligned with industry standards and PlantPass requirements.
Structured Workforce Pathways.
We recruit participants facing barriers to employment and support them through structured training, mentoring, and real on-site experience within live infrastructure and restoration projects.
Long-Term Outcomes.
NEET youth participants gain work readiness, industry-relevant skills, and pathways into ongoing employment - either within Te Whāngai Trust or with our partner organisations.
Unlike traditional contractors or standalone charities, Te Whāngai Trust operates as a fully integrated social enterprise.
We combine:
Commercial-scale native plant nursery capability
Professional project management
Established partnerships with councils and industry
Embedded pastoral care and employment support
Our partners work with us because we deliver reliably.
They continue working with us because we deliver impact.
What makes this unique.
Social impact.
Through our programmes we have:
Supported over 500 long-term unemployed participants into paid work pathways
Integrated people with complex barriers into structured employment
Delivered skills development programmes in environmental restoration
Strengthened community pride and stewardship
We believe infrastructure investment can build both resilient ecosystems and resilient people.
Our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Te Whāngai Trust recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a foundational agreement for Aotearoa New Zealand and a guiding framework for how we work.
Our kaupapa brings together ecological restoration, rangatahi development, and community partnerships. In this work we aim to uphold the principles of partnership, participation, and protection by:
supporting Māori participation and leadership in our programmes
respecting and acknowledging mātauranga Māori in restoration practice
creating pathways for rangatahi Māori into training, employment, and environmental stewardship
working alongside iwi, hapū, and community partners to restore ecosystems and strengthen relationships with whenua.
Many of the native plants we grow hold significance within mātauranga Māori, including traditional uses in rongoā Māori. Where appropriate, we acknowledge these connections alongside ecological restoration knowledge.
Our goal is to contribute to the long-term wellbeing of both people and environment, recognising that the health of whenua and community are deeply connected.
Let’s build restoration that lasts.
If you are planning a restoration, infrastructure, or landscape project and want to integrate ecological excellence with meaningful social impact, we’d love to talk.