Parininihi covers 2,000 hectares of unique coastal to inland forest, stretching from the dramatic Whitecliffs on the north Taranaki coastline inland to Mt Messenger.
This land, returned to Ngāti Tama as part of our treaty settlement with the Crown, holds great cultural, historic and spiritual significance to our iwi.
Tiaki Te Mauri O Parininihi Trust, formed in 2012, is a collaboration between Ngāti Tama and the community. The Trust works to restore and protect the values of Parininihi, with a major long-term ecological management project that includes pest control, taonga species recovery and relocation.
Kōkako return to Taranaki
The reintroduction of North Island kōkako to the area in 2017 was a landmark for the Trust and Ngāti Tama. It was the first time the species was returned to Taranaki after becoming extinct in the region.
In 1999 Ngāti Tama and the Department of Conservation removed the last kokako from forest near Parininihi. They named him Tamanui and took him to a captive breeding programme outside of Taranaki. His offspring were reared on Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf, before being released in Parininihi.
