Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust says its nomination for the Ahuwhenua Award is a testament to its resilience in protecting and restoring its whenua.
The 2025 Ahuwhenua Beef and Sheep finalists have been announced, with Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust in northern Whangaruru and Tawapata South Incorporated’s Onenui Station in Te Mahia named as this year’s contenders.
Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Co-chair Morris Pita says the trust began in 1988 with the return of Māori land blocks.
The trust gained full control of the whenua in 2020 after disputing a lease used to pay off debt accumulated before the block’s return in 1988.
He says restoring infrastructure was the biggest challenge, but support from the Provincial Growth Fund made it possible.
“It was something that was able to be invested constructively into the whenua on behalf of the people, and it’s made a huge difference that’s allowed us to get on with that infrastructure and in turn, create a really well-run, profitable farm that is able, as I said, to reinvest those funds back into our community,” says Pita.
The farm blocks will be judged in April, with the winner announced in June.
