Following a successful Matariki event in 2023, on 28th June Trees for Survival in partnership with Gallagher Insurance and Raapua Collective and other partners, hosted a Matariki celebration for the community at Maungatautari. It was a stunning morning for a dawn ceremony at Karapiro where local tamariki took to the awa, carrying a flame which then lit fires that offered food to the stars. The group acknowledged those that had passed and embraced the energy of the day through karakia, kai, waiata, and games. Despite the early start, the energy continued as a keen group planted 500 native trees on the eastern flanks of Maungatautari where the trees will contribute to restoration of the papakainga and the corridor of native vegetation linking the maunga to the Waikato river.
