Tawera Nikau’s life is a story of resilience and purpose. After a standout international rugby league career, Tawera has turned his competitive drive toward strengthening community and te taiao.

Journey From League Warrior to Champion for Te Taiao

Tawera Nikau’s life is a story of resilience, leadership, and purpose. After a standout international rugby league career, including captaining the NZ Māori team and being inducted into the New Zealand Legends of League, Tawera turned his drive toward strengthening community and restoring te taiao.

Overcoming personal adversity, including losing a leg and profound family tragedy, he rebuilt his life with clarity of purpose and commitment to others. Today he channels that strength into Māori-led environmental action, mental health advocacy, and regenerative land stewardship rooted in mātauranga Māori.

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On his whānau farm beside Lake Waikare, Tawera works with scientists, iwi, schools, and community groups to restore waterways, plant native ecosystems, and protect threatened species. He also champions national campaigns, from opposing sand-mining at Te Akau Bream Bay to advocating for clean water and biodiversity. ​Tawera’s message is rooted in connection to whenua, people, and future generations.

 Tāwera Nikau 

 Tainui 

​Riki Parata will share the journey of the Hokonui Rūnanga, who are leading vital restoration work in Southland for the kanakana / piharau / lamprey, which have been in our rivers for over 360 million years.

An ancient, tāonga species

Kanakana Revival: Weaving Whakapapa, Science, and Community

Kanakana, a jawless, boneless, and ancient species, have been in Aotearoa’s rivers for over 360 million years, long before the dinosaurs. As juveniles they filter-feed to cleanse streams, and as adults they migrate thousands of kilometres between river and sea, reflecting the health of our waterways.

Kanakana are a taonga species and mahinga kai, deeply tied to iwi, tikanga, and whakapapa. Their epic upstream journeys to spawn, sometimes over 100 km, are threatened by pollution events, dams and culverts.
 

Riki Parata will share the journey of the Hokonui Rūnanga, who are leading vital restoration work in Southland, incorporating mātauranga Māori and science through surveys, riparian planting, and innovative breeding programmes.

 Riki Parata 

 Hokonui Rūnanga 

​Te Ataahua Richmond is a passionate kaitiaki deeply connected to tikanga and the taiao, with hands-on experience in restoration mahi and the protection of pekapeka (native bats) in North Waikato.

Pekapeka | Bat Restoration

Te Ataahua Richmond is a passionate kaitiaki deeply connected to tikanga and the taiao, with hands-on experience in restoration mahi and the protection of pekapeka (native bats) in North Waikato, particularly around Lake Waikare. Grounded in kaupapa Māori and community-led action, her work spans monitoring, habitat restoration, education, and whānau engagement, supporting one of Aotearoa’s most threatened taonga species.
 

Since 2015, Te Ataahua has contributed to major projects including the Huntly Bypass, Sleepyhead development in Ōhinewai, Transpower, and the Contact Energy wind farm at Hāpuakohe. In each role, she has worked to protect taonga species, safeguard cultural values, and ensure development aligns with iwi perspectives and environmental protocols.
 

Te Ataahua demonstrates what it takes to restore pekapeka populations on the ground, sharing the challenges, the learnings, and how we can reconnect people and place. 
 

Te Ataahua Richmond
 

Tainui, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Maniapoto

Miranda Wells alongside Haki Keogh from Ngāti Maru, will share how Hark acoustic monitoring technology is being developed with communities to monitor and serve ecological and cultural priorities.

Technology and Mātauranga 

Hark is an emerging acoustic monitoring technology designed to support Aotearoa’s conservation and restoration efforts by helping us better understand and protect threatened species. In this presentation, Miranda Wells (Project Lead, Hark / 800 Trust), alongside Haki Keogh from Ngāti Maru, will share how Hark is being developed in partnership with communities to serve both ecological and cultural priorities.
 

The session will explore how acoustic monitoring can be tailored to the needs of threatened species programmes, and how future developments — including AI-enabled sensors — could expand Hark’s capability to detect pest species and other environmental indicators. Grounded in collaboration with iwi and conservation practitioners, the kōrero will focus on practical application, co-design, and how innovation can strengthen outcomes on the ground.
 

Attendees will gain insight into where Hark is heading, how it can support frontline conservation mahi, and how technology and mātauranga Māori can work together.

Miranda Wells, Haki Keogh

Hark | Ngāti Maru

This session brings together tāngata whenua leadership, educators, rangatahi voice, and data expertise to share a how we can protect one of Aotearoa’s most endangered taonga species.

Action for Endangered Tāonga

This session brings together tāngata whenua leadership, educators and rangatahi voice to share real-world stories and the need to protect one of Aotearoa’s most endangered taonga species.
 

Led by Davis Apiti of Ngāti Te Wehi, this presentation explores decades of advocacy, community leadership, and partnership with science, including collaboration with world-renowned marine researcher Professor Liz Slooten, who helped bring global attention to the crisis facing Māui dolphins.

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Education and intergenerational action are central to this kaupapa. Aotea Apiti, Chair of Moana Rāhui o Aotea and Head of Department Māori at Hamilton Girls' High School, speaks to mobilising young people to step into kaitiakitanga with confidence and purpose.

Apiti Whānau

Ngāti Te Wehi

Mike Smith is a prominent climate activist and community leader who has played a central role in mobilising hāpori across Aotearoa to oppose offshore oil and gas prospecting. 

Opposing Oil Prospecting

How hāpori mobilised to oppose oil prospecting across Aotearoa and what’s happening now.
 

Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu), is a prominent climate activist and community Māori leader who has played a central role in mobilising hāpori across Aotearoa to oppose offshore oil and gas prospecting.

Known for leading the iwi-led legal challenge against the Crown for permitting new oil exploration, Mike's work demonstrates how local resistance, strategic organising and tikanga-based leadership can shift national conversations and ensure political accountability.

Today, Mike continues to support communities to defend their moana and whenua, strengthen climate justice movements, and prepare for the next phase of environmental and legal challenges facing Aotearoa.
 

Mike Smith

Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu

​Rangitahi Wharepapa (Te Whānau a Apanui) and Emma Giesen (Trees That Count) will share the inspiring East Coast initiative that has reconnected communities with the whenua.

Growing Stronger Communities 

Kākano to Korowai: Growing Stronger Communities Through Native Tree Planting 
 

Rangitahi Wharepapa (Te Whānau a Apanui) and Emma Giesen (Trees That Count) will share the inspiring East Coast initiative that has reconnected communities with the whenua. The project follows the journey of a kākano (seed) through its stages of growth, culminating in healthier native ecosystems around homes, kura and marae. 
 

Native trees now flourish on marae, attracting more manu to sing and swoop during whaikorero on the paepae. Community members are planting trees at their own homes, while ongoing wānanga bring knowledge back to the whenua and support tree planting in schools with tamariki. This initiative has created lasting connections, nurturing both people and the environment.
 

Since its launch, Trees That Count has supported over 1,800 planting projects and enabled the planting of over 2.8 million native trees. 
 

​Rangitahi Wharepapa, Emma Giesen

Te Whānau a Apanui | Trees That Count

Olivia Haddon and Jessie Stanley share the multi-generational fight and community-led environmental action across Pakiri and Mangawhai to stop sandmining and safeguard coastal ecosystems.

Protecting Pakiri

The multi-generational fight to stop sandmining at Pakiri and Mangawhai

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Olivia Haddon (Te Whānau o Pakiri) and Jessie Stanley (Save Our Sands Mangawhai Pakiri) present the story of community-led environmental protection across Pakiri and Mangawhai, sharing the multi-generational fight to stop sandmining and safeguard the fragile coastal ecosystems that are home to the tara iti.
 

Grounded in intergenerational whānau knowledge, lived experience, and grassroots action, this presentation traces how whānau, hapū, and community groups mobilised to defend this coastline, combining mātauranga Māori, science, advocacy, and legal challenges.

The journey, challenges and successes are shared and together, they will talk about lessons learned and what it takes for communities to stand strong to protect the places they call home.

Olivia Haddon, Jessie Stanley

Te Whānau o Pakiri | Save Our Sands

Wendy Ambury shares the Love Bittern Project’s work which aims to bring Matuku-hūrepo (bittern) back from the brink and how community connection and technology can educate, mobilise, and empower.

Saving Matuku-hūrepo

Connecting People, Place and Technology to Save Matuku-hūrepo

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Wendy Ambury shares the Love Bittern Project’s work to bring Matuku-hūrepo (bittern) back from the brink of extinction. This keynote explores how connection to place, strong community engagement, and smart use of technology can educate, mobilise, and empower people to take action.

Wendy will highlight how tools are being used to protect and rebuild wetland habitats, and why urgent action is needed now.

“At the current rate of population decline, we are the last generation of people who can help save Matuku-hūrepo, in their natural wetland homes”, says Wendy.

This session focuses on what meaningful, on-the-ground action looks like, and how everyone can be part of it.

Wendy Ambury

Love Bittern Project

In this interactive workshop, Michaela will guide us in exploring how art, connection, and creativity can strengthen our connection to each other and the natural world.

Interactive Workshop

Workshop: Enhancing and Strengthening Māuri

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Michaela Insley (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou) is the wāhine Māori equivalent of a David Attenborough—out in nature, engaged, documenting, and sharing her love of te taiao with the world. A storyteller and photographer, Michaela brings mātauranga to life, connecting people deeply to the natural world.
 

In this interactive workshop, Michaela will guide us in exploring how art, performance, and creativity can strengthen our connection to each other and the natural world. Together, we will:

• Understand what māuri is and why it matters.

• Explore ways to enhance māuri in our communities and environments.

• Define how we can stay connected and take practical steps forward.

Bring your positive vibes, curiosity and creativity. This is a space to learn, share, and be inspired.
 

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Michaela Insley

Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou