With Conservation Week in full swing, we've been doing our bit to help the environment and the beautiful place we call home.

There’s no place like home, and home for us is up the mountain within the stunning nature that surrounds Wānaka. Conservation week has encouraged us to protect our home in many ways, on and off the mountain.

To begin Conservation Week, we traded the groomers for a shovel and rake and gave the team at Walter Peak High Country Farm a hand planting trees. Our day began with a boat trip across Whakatipu Waimāori (Lake Whakatipu) to the idyllic Walter Peak High Country Farm. Being able to spot Cardrona from the farm’s lakefront, we knew we weren’t far from home. As soon as we got off the boat, we were met by the friendly faces of the Walter Peak team and onto the tools before we knew it.

Rather than a couple of cms of snow, our team raked out a few cms of mulch. While we were at it, we managed to plant around 700 trees in two days! This was a perfect excuse to get our hands dirty and put our words into action by contributing to our special environment.

We have ongoing projects around the mountain to hold ourselves accountable, practice kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection) and give back to the environment, so let us give you the low-down!

The kārearea is Aotearoa’s only native falcon, and through The Cardrona Kārearea Conservation Project, we are protecting the species. This is a long-term scientific study into a taonga (treasured) species, to enable effective conservation and raise public awareness.
With the right education and recognition, we hope NZ will join us in conserving the kārearea.

At the base of both Cardrona and Treble Cone, we have begun a mass replanting programme, to regenerate the ecosystems that once were. We have planted 1000s of native trees & shrubs and are set to continue for years to come. This creates habitat and food for insects, birds and lizards, also improving soil and water quality.

With no more public-facing landfill bins at Cardrona and Treble Cone, we’re waving goodbye to all landfill packaging. There are plenty of friendly reminders around the mountain to take your waste home with you, while staff can give you a helping hand to sort any compost or recycling you may have!

Through our conservation efforts, we hope to turn the question of “what should we do?” into “what will we do?” and then “what will we do next?” to protect the maunga (mountain).