Current Projects
NEXT’s environmental investments focus on restoring New Zealand’s iconic species and spaces, including reviving our oceans.
Projects
Predator Free South Westland
Predator Free South Westland is eliminating possums, rats and stoats from a 113,000 hectare area bounded by the Whataroa and Waiau (Waiho) Rivers, the Southern Alps and Tasman Sea. The project area includes bush, rural land and the townships of Whataroa, Okarito and Franz Josef.
The project is a partnership between the people of South Westland, Department of Conservation, and the NEXT Foundation, with the support of the tangata whenua of South Westland, Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio. It is on target to be completed in 2026.
Hauraki Gulf Restoration
The Hauraki Gulf Restoration project is reviving marine life in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, to bring life back into the ocean, create jobs, and strengthen connections between people and place.
NEXT is a seed funder in this project, in partnership with iwi, the University of Auckland, and the Department of Conservation. The first phase will include pilot projects around Te Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island, the Noises, and a research programme at Motutapu.
The Native Carbon Initiative
Through Zero Invasive Predators, NEXT is supporting the Native Carbon Initiative. This has been seed funded to investigate whether the native forest regrowth, where predators have been removed, is sequestering more carbon.
If we can better understand carbon stocks in native ecosystems, including measuring and managing them, there may be economic opportunities to leverage this through the carbon credit trading scheme. This could fund future conservation projects.
Predator Free Rakiura
Through Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP), NEXT is supporting Predator Free Rakiura, an ambitious project to remove rats, possums, feral cats and hedgehogs from Stewart Island.
Predator Free Rakiura is a collaboration between government, iwi, businesses, community groups and philanthropists to restore the island and protect the taonga species which live there.
Te Manahuna Aoraki
Te Manahuna Aoraki is a large-scale conservation project focused on restoring the natural landscapes and threatened species of the magnificent upper Mackenzie Basin and Aoraki/ Mt Cook National Park.
The project will enhance biodiversity across 310,000 hectares of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most stunning landscapes, including braided river systems, high country farmland and alpine habitats.
NEXT Foundation, the Department of Conservation, Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua, Te Rūnanga o Waihao and Te Rūnanga o Moeraki are the project’s founding partners. They are joined by high country landowners, and investors Aotearoa Foundation, Jasmine Social Investments, Global Wildlife Conservation and other government agencies together with the wider community.