The Whenua Māori Fund supports whenua Māori based economic, cultural, social and environmental projects which help strengthen whānau, communities, regions and the New Zealand economy.
It assists Trustees and owners of whenua Māori to explore the potential of their whenua and to investigate the means of lifting productivity, either through improving and growing existing operations, diversification, or preparing for new ventures.
We will advise when applications open for 2024-25.
Last updated: Rāpare, 16 Kohitātea, 2025 | Thursday, 16 January 2025
What's on this page?
Te Ataarangi Parata, Te Kaha Nursery 2IC, nurturing the young plants in Te Heriko, the plant nursery owned and operated by Te Kaha Landowners Group (TKG). TKG are supporting aspirations for whānau, including to whenua and employment. Photo credit: Josie McClutchie.
Criteria for applications
To be eligible to apply for funding from the Whenua Māori Fund:
- Your whenua must be Māori freehold land. To check, enter your block details on the Tupu.NZ website, Find your whenua https://www.tupu.nz/
- Your whenua must have a governing entity, i.e. Trust, Incorporation or other entity established under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 unless there are seven or fewer owners
- If there are seven or fewer owners, each owner must be supportive of an application to the Fund.
How to apply
Applications can be made at any time throughout the year. If you think the Whenua Māori Fund could support you and your whānau, please contact your nearest Te Puni Kōkiri regional office, so our staff can help determine your eligibility and discuss your ideas for developing your whenua.
You can find the details of our regional offices here.
Our whenua resources and services
Further whenua information and support
Project Overviews
To give you an idea of the types of projects the Whenua Māori Fund can support, we have provided overviews of some of the projects we have supported. You can view the Project Overviews of the Whenua Māori Fund recipients here.
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