MACPAC X Te Ahu Pātiki
Macpac is proud to announce that we’ve renewed our partnership with the Te Ahu Pātiki Charitable Trust for another five years.
Based near our own backyard of Ōtautahi Christchurch, Te Ahu Pātiki is a public conservation estate overlooking Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour, on Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula.
As a long-term supporter of the Trust through our Fund for Good, this partnership helps to continue protecting and regenerating this unique landscape for everyone to enjoy.
What is Te Ahu Pātiki?
Te Ahu Pātiki is 500 hectares of public conservation estate. It includes the summits of Te Ahu Pātiki Mt Herbert and Mt Bradley, the two highest peaks in the wider Ōtautahi area. Once covered in native forest, but now dominated with gorse and pasture, this special area is now the site of an ambitious ecological regeneration project led by the Te Ahu Pātiki Charitable Trust.
Te Ahu Pātiki is home to the peninsula’s highest wetlands and a range of native plant and invertebrate species unique to the area. A QEII National Trust Covenant and Walking Access Commission Easement help ensure that Te Ahu Pātiki will continue to thrive as a protected landscape, gradually transitioning to indigenous forest and forming a biodiversity hotspot. The area connects into a 2200-hectare network of continuous protection, forming a biodiversity corridor from summit to sea.
The ultimate goal: restore native forests, wetlands, and wildlife, and bring the maunga back to its natural state.
Why Partner with the Te Ahu Pātiki Charitable Trust?
At Macpac, we believe in protecting the places where we adventure and play.
We’ve supported the Te Ahu Pātiki Charitable Trust through our Fund for Good since 2022 and are proud to continue this support with a renewed five-year partnership, helping the Trust achieve its ambitious vision of restored habitat, thriving biodiversity, and ongoing public access for generations to come.
This project is a true local success story, and one we feel privileged to be part of.
The Location
Visible from Ōtautahi’s Port Hills, Te Ahu Pātiki is a place close to the heart of many of our team members.
The land was purchased in 2021 to create a public conservation area, made possible through the Rod Donald Banks Peninsula Trust, Te Hapū Ngāti Wheke, Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata and Orton Bradley Park combined with the generosity of more than 3,000 individuals and organisations, who contributed over $900,000.
It is home to a wide range of habitats, from sub-alpine summits and rocky outcrops to old-growth forest remnants and regenerating pasture. The landscape stretches from 200 to 900 metres in elevation, predominantly north-facing, with diverse microclimates across the maunga.
With the removal of grazing stock, old-growth remnants are now able to replenish naturally, helping seed new forest. Much of the land is covered in a canopy of gorse, which serves as a nursery for young native plants. Over time, this will transition to mature native forest, a process already proven at nearby Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula.
The project also guarantees permanent public access to a network of well-loved walking tracks, connecting people with nature in a truly special landscape.
Our partnership with the Te Ahu Pātiki Charitable Trust is supported through Macpac’s Fund for Good, our way of giving back to non-profits with a long-term positive impact on people and the planet.
Customers can support the Fund for Good by purchasing Fund for Good products or by refusing a bag in-store. When you refuse a bag in-store, we donate $0.20 to the Fund for Good.
Thanks to your choices, we’ve been able to support incredible projects like Te Ahu Pātiki, and with this renewed partnership, we’ll continue to do so in the years to come.
