Native Tree PlantinG on Mou Waho

If you are an eco-conscious traveller, this tour is a great way to offset your footprint as you travel through New Zealand. By planting a native tree, we leave the island better than when we arrived. Thus, creating a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone.

This initiative began in 2007 to enhance the natural environment of the protected, predator-free island of Mou Waho. Some of the trees planted since the initiative started are already providing food for the varied species on the island.

We pride ourselves in giving our guests a ‘hands on’ way of contributing to New Zealand conservation during their time with us. Below we outline just a few of the native species we plant on the island:

Kōtukutuku or Tree Fuscia; The largest Fuchsia in the world and a super smart tree. The flowers are unique, changing colour once pollinated, signalling pollinators to havbe the maximum poiostive impact. The seeds, flowers and fruit and an important food source for tui and kereru. It's also a favourite of the bushtail possum whose introduction led to serious decline

Horoeka or Lancewoord; A master at adaptation. You will notice how some native plants look completely different when they’re young compared to when they’re adults. Scientists call that heteroblasty. No one fully agrees why it happens, but one theory goes back to the days when moa – those giant flightless birds – roamed New Zealand. The idea is that young plants grew tough, unusual leaves as a kind of armour against being eaten. Once they grew tall enough, above moa height, they didn’t need that defence anymore, so the adult leaves changed into a shape better suited to photo synthesis 

Join us on a cruise to Mou Waho and see some of the impressive native flora & fauna, as well as the rare creatures that live on the island!