E tipu waru e

Grow in the summer warmth

Ngamanawa Incorporation was created when various land block owners came together after the 1968 Notice of Intention to take land for Electricity Works by the Tauranga Joint Generation Committee.

Ngamanawa is a Māori Incorporation that protects, develops and manages its assets in order to contribute to the economic, cultural and social prosperity of its owners.

The Incorporation’s primary business interest since inception was forestry. In recent times, the aim of diversifying the asset base alongside forestry has resulted in business activities across a mix of horticulture and equity investments.

Ngamanawa incorporation also own and manage Waitaia Lodge for whānau and community to enjoy. The Incorporation also provides annual grants and scholarships to our uri. Our team continue to work with local organisations to monitor and protect our whenua, wai and taonga species within the Ngamanawa whenua such as kiwi, kōkako, tuna heke and kauri.

  • Located on the other side of the Omanawa River on Belk Road (and not far from the Ngamanawa corpus lands), is the Incorporation kiwifruit orchard. This was purchased in 2017. The property is 19 hectares in total with 14.33 canopy hectares. At the time of purchase, 12.87 hectares of the orchard was in the HW variety. Over the past few years, we have grafted over further HW to G3, resulting now in a total of 5 hectares of gold and 9.33 hectares of green.

    We currently work with the teams at Prospa and EastPack for orchard management and post harvest services.

  • Ngamanawa Incorporation are investors in the blueberry industry. Our investments include a shareholding into a Māori grower formed entity named Miro Limited Partnership, which is invested into various parts of the value chain including growing and post-harvest. Ngamanawa has also invested into a new 2 hectare development on Matakana Island, named Matakana Berry Limited Partnership, alongside four other Tauranga Moana based Māori land trusts.

  • When the Incorporation was founded, there arose a need to utilise the whenua in a more productive manner. The ambition of creating something which would one day benefit the many owners of Ngamanawa Incorporation was a key driver in the decision making of the time. Like many Māori land blocks, there was also an increasing pressure to retain land, under numerous threats including rates and public works-based legislation. Consideration was given to different opportunities, with forestry the preferred option. In order to establish a plantation forest, the Incorporation needed capital to get the development underway. After reviewing various forestry proposals, a lease agreement between Ngamanawa Incorporation and New Zealand Forest Products was signed at the Annual General Meeting of the Incorporation on 28 May 1977, the term of lease being for 99 years.

    Since then, the Lease was purchased from New Zealand Forest Products (who changed name to Elders Resources NZFP Limited) who then transferred its interest in the Lease to Tasman Forestry Limited. In 1989, the Lease was surrendered and replaced with a Forestry Right incorporating all three of land blocks in Ngamanawa. In 1995, Fletcher Challenge Forests was created to administer the forestry activities of Fletcher Challenge Limited which included Tasman Forestry Limited. In 2004 Fletcher Challenge Forests assigned its interest in the Forestry Right to the current investor or grantee the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP). OTPP’s investment is currently managed by Hancock Forest Management NZ Ltd.

    Financial terms of the second rotation of the Forestry Right were completed a few years ago and when compared against the first rotation, results in a much-improved position for the Incorporation.

    Similar to the first rotation, the Incorporation is on a heavily weighted stumpage return model, as opposed to taking a larger annual rental payment. Once the second rotation is complete, there is the opportunity for the Incorporation to own and manage all forestry assets outright. This will mark an exciting milestone for Ngamanawa.

    We anticipate that harvest of our current second rotation to begin anywhere between 2031 and 2035. The Forestry Right with OTPP is approx. 1,672 hectares. A further 240 hectares is owned and managed outright by the Incorporation. 120 hectares is under a pruned regime.

    In 2021, the Incorporation has approx. 100 hectares of thinning to complete.

  • Ngamanawa Incorporation are investors in the niche Rockit apple variety. The Incorporation is a shareholder in two separate grower-based partnerships, spanning over 100 hectares, in addition to Rockit Global Ltd, which is the post-harvest and marketing function for all supply of Rockit apples. Rockit Global also assume the management services for our investor orchards. Rockit Global has recently won a bunch of business awards including the prize for Best Large Business and the coveted overall Supreme Award at the New Zealand International Business Awards.

    Rockit adds its two NZ International Business Awards to a list of other recent wins, including gold at the Best Awards and Best Large Business at the China Business Awards.

  • The Incorporation hold NZ carbon units. These have seen a significant rise in recent years and are primarily held in the event the Incorporation wish to deforest as a result of changing land use.

    The Incorporation have traded units in recent years, in order to invest in other areas, such as kiwifruit.

  • The Incorporation has a share portfolio, currently managed by Craigs Investment Partners.

    The portfolio comprises a mix of investments, mainly focused within the NZ equity market, but also includes companies listed within major global markets.

    The Incorporation also has a direct investment into Zespri and EastPack.

    The Incorporation also have an investment in to the Bethlehem Town Centre - PMG Generation Fund.