Future Whenua Summit

Haere Mai, to the 5th edition of the Future Whenua Summit!

In 2026, this much-loved regenerative gathering lands in the first region to see the sun – Te Tairāwhiti. Over three days, we will explore biodiversity and mosaic land use in farming and forestry systems, balancing economic, ecological and social benefits.

Themes include:

• Mosaic Land Use: how to manage diverse land practices that reduce risk, build resilience, support infrastructure and create ecological corridors.
• Biodiversity as Infrastructure: not as a “nice-to-have,” but as the living foundation of productive landscapes.
• Māori Land Stewardship: exploring models of kaitiakitanga, collective governance, and intergenerational responsibility that challenge Western ownership paradigms.
• Forestry Futures: how to move beyond extractive monocultures toward regenerative timber and multi-species systems.
• Community Resilience: what it means for rural people to rely less on global inputs and more on local capacity in an era of volatile markets and climate disruption.
• Financial markets, catchment-based pest management, land succession, rural finance, policy shifts and more…