Mackenzie Basin Catchment Collective

05/03/2026

If you want more info - please feel free to DM us! We'd love to discuss how we can get your project off the ground!

26/01/2026

We're looking for environmental projects to support. So if you've been thinking of getting one underway and need a little help, get in touch!

For more information see the link below
https://www.mackenziebasincatchmentcollective.com/projects-submissions

12/01/2026

We’re on the hunt for environmental initiatives to support!

Last August, we were proud to put around $80,000 towards three restoration projects across the Mackenzie Basin. Now, we’re opening up funding again and inviting new project applications.

If you’re working on an environmental initiative that aligns with our criteria, we’d love to hear from you.

👉 View the criteria and apply here:

https://www.mackenziebasincatchmentcollective.com/projects-submissions

Let’s keep making a positive impact in the Mackenzie together.

Connect with Mackenzie Basin Catchment Collective for collaboration opportunities. Join us and explore collaboration opportunities today!

11/12/2025

Wishing everyone in the Mackenzie community — locals and visitors alike — a safe and happy holiday season!

Our stunning landscapes and waterways will be busier over summer, so a gentle reminder to:
🚮 Take your rubbish home
🚐 Stick to marked tracks
🔥 Respect fire restrictions
🐾 Enjoy wildlife from a distance
💧 Leave no trace along our lakes and rivers

Let’s all do our bit to protect the amazing environment we’re lucky to call home.
Have an awesome break and stay safe out there! 🌿

04/12/2025

We've been a bit quiet here for a while and have a few new faces joining our socials so a reminder of who we are - The Mackenzie Basin Catchment Collective is a group of landowners, farmers, whānau and community members working together to protect and enhance the land and waterways that make our region so special.

From water quality projects to biodiversity protection and sustainable land management, we’re committed to ensuring the Mackenzie Basin thrives now and for the next generation.

🤝 Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do — because when the community leads, the environment wins.

Follow along to see our work in action and learn how you can get involved.

26/11/2025

07/11/2025

Back in August, we asked how we could best support local environmental action — and the community answered!

We’re excited to share that we’ve committed $78,500 to support three awesome projects led by local catchment groups.

Of course, money’s just one way we can help. Once the real mahi kicks off, we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and joining in for planting days and other hands-on work!

Head to our website or check out our latest newsletter to read all about it.

Also, if you have a project in mind we'd love to hear from you. We might just have more funding coming your way.. stay tuned!

07/10/2025

Serving looks, wrecking ecosystems.

Lupins: the Instagram queens of the Mackenzie Basin. Loved by tourists, bees, and apparently this very intense insect — but ecologists? Not so much.

They might be pretty, but they’re absolute pests — pushing out native plants and messing with our braided rivers like they own the place.

So yes, take the photo. But remember: not all that glitters is good for biodiversity.

23/09/2025

It's great to see that NZ Freshwater King Salmon (grown here in our catchment) is leading the way globally when it comes to sustainable practices.

We're so here for it, well done!

Rated “Green” “Best Choice” by Monterey Bay Aquarium, Zealand freshwater salmon (aka Chinook or King Salmon).

Seafood Watch, the highest sustainability rating they offer, making our salmon the best in the world.

What is Seafood Watch?

Seafood Watch is a globally respected program that uses rigorous, science-based assessments to evaluate how seafood is farmed or fished. They look at everything — from feed ingredients and farming practices to habitat impact and disease risk — and then rate seafood based on environmental sustainability.

That green tick isn’t something we chased. It’s the natural outcome of what we are doing and how we are farming.

For more information: https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendation/salmon/chinook-salmon-29937?species=221

23/09/2025

Hold onto your huts!
The iconic Irishman Creek shed has weathered its fair share of wild Mackenzie Basin winds — and this week has been no exception. With gusts that could knock your socks (and your signposts) off, it’s a good reminder of the extremes our landscape throws at us.

Stay safe out there — and shout out to all the farmers, workers, and locals riding it out with typical high country grit. 🌬️🏔️

08/09/2025

Caravans by the lakeside, reflections on the water — these moments are only possible when we care for the land and waterways that make them thrive. In the Mackenzie Basin, recreation and conservation go hand in hand. 💧🚐

12/08/2025

Wilding pines can remove up to eighty percent (yes 80%!) of water from our sensitive catchment areas, affecting not only our high country lakes, but everything else downstream.

Controlling wilding pines protects our rural wells and town water supplies; our capacity for hydroelectricity production; our rivers, lakes and wetlands; and anyone who irrigates.

📸 Young wilding pines beginning to take hold in a tributary to Lake Pukaki - Tony Benny.