Leading Voices Confirmed to Speak at Endangered Species National Hui

This September, leaders at the forefront of taiao restoration will gather in Kirikiriroa Hamilton for the first ever Endangered Species National Hui.

Some of the country's most compelling voices — Tāwera Nikau, a rugby league legend turned champion for te taiao, an entire community striving to save a taonga species, the kanakana – a freshwater species that predates the dinosaurs, and hundreds of people rising up across the motu to save a disappearing wetland bird – the matuku-hūrepo (bittern), will be sharing the stage this year to showcase challenges and solutions that exist right now.

“We are the last generation of people who can save many of these species and this Hui aims to enable people to take the action urgently needed to turn things around,” says Natalie Jessup, GM of Tāngaro Tuia te Ora, the Endangered Species Foundation.

The two-day hui will take place 2–3 September at The Atrium, Wintec in Kirikiriroa | Hamilton. It will bring together iwi, community groups, researchers, policymakers, artists and environmental advocates working to safeguard the country's most vulnerable species.

Under the theme Taonga Tuku Iho: Restoring Māuri Through Collective Action, the event will showcase practical solutions, community-led restoration projects, and innovative approaches to reversing biodiversity decline. Thousands of native species are currently at risk of extinction and the speakers taking the stage in September have spent years on the front lines of the challenges we face.

Meet the People Who Won't Give Up

The hui features a remarkable lineup of speakers who will be sharing their stories of resilience, community power, and the cost of inaction.

Headlining is Tāwera Nikau (Tainui), whose journey from rugby league legend to kaitiaki is truly inspiring. After captaining the NZ Māori team and being inducted into the New Zealand Legends of League, Nikau lost a leg and faced profound personal tragedy — and rebuilt his life with a clear purpose: restoring te taiao. Today, on his whānau farm beside Lake Waikare, he works alongside scientists, iwi and schools to restore waterways, plant native ecosystems and protect threatened freshwater species.

Riki Parata of Hokonui Rūnanga will share the story of the kanakana — a jawless, ancient species that has survived in Aotearoa's rivers for over 360 million years, longer than the dinosaurs. Now threatened by pollution, dams and culverts, the rūnanga's work weaving mātauranga Māori with science offers a blueprint for what iwi-led restoration can achieve.

Siobhan Nuri is a freshwater fisheries scientist who will share insights on the mysterious lives of “eelusive tuna” including field research on how glass eels return from ocean spawning grounds into freshwater ecosystems. Working at river mouths and key catchments, she investigates migration timing, pathways, and the environmental factors that shape survival.

Te Ataahua Richmond (Tainui, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Maniapoto) brings hands-on experience protecting pekapeka (native bats) in North Waikato, demonstrating what community-led kaitiakitanga looks like on the ground.

Miranda Wells and Haki Keogh (Ngāti Maru) will unveil how Hark — an emerging AI-enabled acoustic monitoring technology — is being co-designed with communities to protect threatened species, combining cutting-edge innovation with mātauranga Māori.

Dean Baigent-Mercer, also known as the living Lorax, will explore what happens when forests recover, and how species once thought gone begin to return. He will inspire us with tales of tall forest habitats, discovery of new rare species and how ancient trees become upward caves in native forests.

Mike Smith (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu), the climate activist who led the landmark iwi legal challenge against the Crown over new oil exploration, will speak on how communities organised — and what comes next for hāpori across the motu.

Rangitahi Wharepapa (Te Whānau a Apanui) and Emma Giesen (Trees That Count) will share the Kākano to Korowai initiative — a project that has reconnected East Coast communities with their whenua through native tree planting, with more than 2.8 million trees planted nationally to date.

Olivia Haddon (Te Whānau ō Pakiri) and Jessie Stanley (Save our Sands) will bring the story of the multi-generational fight to stop sandmining at Pakiri and Mangawhai, where whānau, hapū and community groups have stood together to protect coastal habitats and the home of the critically endangered tara iti.

Wendy Ambury will present on the Love Bittern Project's race to save Matuku-hūrepo from extinction — a species for which the clock is almost out. "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," Ambury says. Her session will show how community connection and technology can turn that reality into action.

The Apiti Whānau of Ngāti Te Wehi will share decades of advocacy for Māui dolphins — one of the world's most endangered marine mammals — and how rangatahi are being engaged to step into this space.

Phil McCabe is a leading voice in the movement to stop seabed mining, working with KASM (Kiwis Against Seabed Mining) to push for a nationwide ban. Based in Whaingaroa, Raglan he brings attention to the rich diversity of marine life found along the west coast and the risks industrial extraction poses for our whole country.

Building Momentum Now – The Hui about the Doey

The hui has been designed as a practical, action-focused gathering to identify tangible solutions and strengthen collective impact.

“This hui is a critical juncture for community led-action and empowerment,” says Jessup. “We can’t sit on our hands and depend on governments to act. With thousands of species on the edge of extinction this is a key moment to align knowledge, community networks and action at a national scale”.

Sessions will explore restoring ecosystems from mountains to sea, protecting critically endangered species and habitats, mātauranga Māori and indigenous leadership in conservation, community-led restoration, science and innovation, and advocacy for policy change.

Participants will have the opportunity to connect with iwi representatives, grassroots environmental groups, scientists and decision-makers working across freshwater, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems.

“In the face of some really dire national and international situations, this hui aims to highlight the things that are working to protect the things we all care about,” says Jessup.“Ultimately we want to enable communities to restore mauri and lifeforce for people and place, and give back some of the leadership and control to locals on the ground, doing the hard work. Together we can make a difference”.

Early Bird Tickets Available Now

Early Bird tickets are now available, with a tiered pricing structure that allows organisations with greater resources, subsidise attendance for students and volunteers — ensuring the hui includes the full range of voices needed to make change.

Early Bird tickets and the full programme: www.endangeredspecies.org.nz/hui-2026

Nau mai, haere mai — all welcome.

Programme + Tickets