Toimata Foundation, through the partnership with Ministry for the Environment, offered an Environmental Outcomes Fund to support specific regional Enviroschools projects and events in 2025-2026.

Funding was provided to 11 projects and events from 10 regions, showcasing a range of environmental outcomes including biodiversity and ecosystem regeneration, freshwater health, waste minimisation and resource efficiency, and climate mitigation and resilience.  In addition to these outcomes for a healthy taiao, the chosen projects demonstrated scale and reach, positive outcomes for Māori, and support for key regional partnerships.

Projects and events supported by the fund:

Taitokerau /Northland: Te Ao Hurihuri | The ever-changing world – transformative educator workshop for a climate-conscious future, to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, and resources to lead climate-conscious learning in their schools and centres.  See story.

Tāmaki Makaurau /Auckland: Ngā Rākau o te Ngākau | Trees of the Heart – project to strengthen biodiversity, restore habitats, and empower tamariki as active contributors to Aotearoa’s Billion Trees movement. See story

Tāmaki Makaurau /Auckland: Connection to local maunga – to connect ākonga from Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori to their local Tupuna Maunga across Tāmaki Makaurau, building on work already underway to strengthen connection to whenua, and to increase the outstanding biodiversity outcomes for this rohe. See story

Waikato: Secondary Enviroschools – Teacher Professional Development Hui – an overnight event offering inspiration and connection for lead Enviroschools teachers.  The focus was on deepening connections to the Enviroschools Kaupapa and strengthening the network of Waikato secondary Enviroschools. See story

Te Tairāwhiti /Gisborne:  Biodiversity restoration and community engagement initiatives – delivered in partnership with Haumanu Tū Ora and local catchment groups. This includes environmental education, community-led conservation activities, and opportunities for tamariki and rangatahi to participate in hands-on restoration projects that enhance freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity outcomes.

Te Matau a Māui /Hawke’s Bay: Hua Whenua Tūhono | Connecting through the fruits of the land – bringing together communities across Hawke’s Bay to grow, share, and sustain healthy kai through strong relationships with each other and the whenua. See story

Taranaki: Alternative Energy roadshow – offering a range of activities for students to explore how they can champion climate action through alternative energy options.  The event will support student-led action for the environment  through knowledge building, experiential learning and personal pledges. See story

Te Tau Ihu /Marlborough: Energize Project – a Kindergarten Association-wide project looking at energy, ways we use it and ways we can conserve it. Professional development and support will be provided to eight kindergartens, alongside gathering data, leading to practical actions from tamariki and whānau, kaiako and kindergarten management. See Story 1 & Story 2

Te Tau Ihu /Marlborough: Traditional Māori Games workshop – using traditional Māori games to bring teachers together, share stories and network, with a focus on the kaupapa of Energy. See story

Whakatū and Te Tai o Aorere /Nelson and Tasman : He Kākano marae experience – a one‑day, marae‑based kaupapa grounded in mātauranga Māori for tamariki aged 7–12 years. The programme supports tamariki Māori to explore the taiao, tikanga, and kaitiakitanga, nurturing connection, care, and respect for the environment. See story

Ōtākou /Otago: Food Forests and Community Gardens – a region-wide fund to support food resilience projects in Enviroschools across the region. Projects to be completed in the spring.

Murihiku /Southland: Zero Waste Workshops – to support tamariki, school leaders & communities to understand, reduce, and ultimately eliminate waste through sustainable practices that reflect kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga. See story.

Related Stories:

Mother Earth has been an official sponsor of Enviroschools since 2010. The Mother Earth brand (owned by The Arnott’s Group) aims to support our communities and help young people have healthy, balanced lives. To enable this, they partner with like-minded organisations that have a positive impact on the wellbeing of New Zealanders.

“We are excited about our sponsorship of Enviroschools because Mother Earth believes in ‘acting globally but thinking locally’, and supporting Enviroschools and their regional networks complements our thinking. We are proud of the sponsorship and with supporting school-children throughout New Zealand. We want to help make a difference and create sustainable communities led by young children armed with confidence, knowledge and initiative.”  (Mike Cullerne, Managing Director, Arnott’s NZ Ltd).

Over the years the Mother Earth sponsorship has supported an ‘Enviroschools Regional Events Fund’, Mother Earth products available at networking events across the country, as well as funds to support the core function of programme coordination nationally. Mother Earth product lines include the words ‘proud to support Enviroschools’ on their packaging.

Enviroschools is extremely appreciative of the long-term support and sponsorship we receive from Mother Earth, and are also proud of the sustainability efforts and developments Mother Earth continues to make across its portfolio and processes over time.

Related Stories:

Toimata Foundation received funding from One Billion Trees Programme (1BT) through Te Uru Rākau NZ Forest Service (TURNZFS) – part of Ministry of Primary Industries, from 2021 – 2024.

Some of the funding was invested regionally to ‘grow and extend action on the ground through holistic, ecosystem approaches in the Enviroschools network’.   Significant impact across a large number of projects was achieved with a relatively small investment due to:

• Long-term trusting relationships in the Enviroschools network meant  resources were able to be very effectively channelled to communities and projects that are ready for action.
• Our team of highly skilled Enviroschools Facilitators  provided participants with a range of wrap-around support for meaningful action and embedded learning.
• Enviroschools is a large network of highly-motivated  participants committed to long-term action – so projects are not an isolated one-off.
• Large numbers of partners and collaborators already investing time, funds and expertise, this means more could be achieved with the additional funds.

A highlight for us are the stories and photos shared by the participants across our Enviroschools network who have benefited from the 1BT funding.  There is deep gratitude and appreciation across the motu for the support.  This project has reinforced to us the value of our nationwide network and high-trust relationships with schools, early childhood centres, councils and communities. Through these strong connections we have been able to spread the funds widely to support over 100 projects in all regions. Given the commitment of our participants, we are confident that the mahi of these last 3 years will continue to make a lasting impact. We mihi to those in our network, and everyone in all places, taking action to restore biodiversity, care for the whenua and bring peace, aroha and hauora to our communities, our taiao and our world.

Related Stories:

Toimata Foundation/Enviroschools celebrates the many actions that were supported during the two years of our partnership with Earthwise.

Earthwise provided sponsorship funding for an Action Fund for projects across the Enviroschools network during 2021 and 2022.

Originally started as a family-owned business, the Earthwise brand was sold to german multinational Henkel in 2023.

The stories below profile the range of amazing projects that the Earthwise Action Fund enabled in schools and early childhood centres from student business stalls, wise water projects, orchards, community gardens, waste systems and forest and river restorations.

In 2019 Ecostore wanted to explore options to recover their plastic bottles, aside from refills and recycling.  With a selected group of Enviroschools, members of the national Enviroschools team and EcoStore, a trial project developed to recover plastic Ecostore bottles. 

The trail began with a cluster of schools in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and their Enviroschools Facilitators and then inspired the plastic recovery programme to be expanded into three other regions in 2020.  The national Enviroschools team developed a new resource for schools that linked our programmes key resources with the process for plastic reduction, return and recovery.

This new resource draws out links between closed loop regenerative systems and our Enviroschools resources in ways that support the empowerment of all learners and build capabilities towards becoming change makers in our communities.

Enviroschools has teamed up with Jack Johnson on three occasions (2012, 2017 and 2022) as an All At Once Non-Profit Partner, during his tour in New Zealand.

All At Once is Jack’s social action network connecting nonprofits with people who want to take action and give back to their community. All At Once promotes sustainable & equitable food systems, plastic free initiatives, healthy watersheds and more! Get involved at allatonce.org