Mō mātou
The Whenua Māori Service
The Whenua Māori Service supports Māori freehold landowners to realise their aspirations for their whenua. Our advisors provide support to help you connect with, develop and use your whenua — no matter what stage of the journey you're at, or what your aspirations might be.
What we do
The Whenua Māori Service helps Māori landowners explore their aspirations and unlock the potential of their whenua.
We take a culturally grounded, holistic, and strengths-based approach to achieving whānau aspirations through whenua — putting Māori landowners' wants and needs at the heart of all decision-making.
Our team of advisors are based in Te Puni Kōkiri regional offices around Aotearoa. We also work to connect Māori landowners with the broader services and support provided by Te Puni Kōkiri.
Getting advice and expertise
We provide Māori landowners with practical support and guidance on a range of whenua-related matters. Our goal is to empower you to connect with, develop and use your whenua, no matter what stage of the journey you’re at.
We focus on providing brokerage and facilitation services — connecting you to the agencies, organisations and community groups with the expertise you need to move forward in your whenua journey.
We can also support you to:
- succeed to your whenua
- access information about your whenua
- establish governance arrangements, like Ahu Whenua trusts for example
- build governance and management capability
- unlock the economic potential of your whenua
- access funding opportunities, including funds administered by Te Puni Kōkiri. the Ministry for Primary Industries, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
- explore productive and sustainable land use options
- undertake planning to support your economic, social, cultural and environmental aspirations
- understand Māori Land Court processes.
Funding and investment
There are various different funds, grants and investment opportunities available to support your whenua aspirations. We can help you work out which ones you're eligible to apply for.
We can also support you if you're applying to the Whenua Māori Fund, which is managed by Te Puni Kōkiri. It supports whānau to explore the potential of their whenua, and investigate ways to lift productivity by:
- improving and growing existing operations
- diversifying the land use, or
- preparing for new ventures.
Search for funding opportunities
The Whenua Māori Fund
Whakapā mai
You'll find Whenua Māori Service regional advisors at Te Puni Kōkiri offices around the motu. If you can’t make it into the office, you can get in touch with us by phone or email instead. Contact details for your nearest office are on our regional pages — you'll be able to see what else is happening in your rohe there too.