Our region is home to forests, wetlands, dunes and waterways unique to New Zealand. At Horizons, we work in partnership with our communities to protect and enhance our patch of native New Zealand. We are lucky enough to have our own regional park and many other excellent examples of living heritage including Bushy Park Tarapuruhi fenced sanctuary. Historical clearance and ongoing development of the landscape reduced the indigenous vegetation cover to 23% of its original extent, leaving isolated pockets of native habitat. These range from large areas such as the Whanganui National Park to very small areas found on private land. Horizons works to protect and enhance these remaining pockets of biodiversity across the region. Horizons biodiversity advisors work to directly protect sites of particularly rare and threatened indigenous ecosystem remnants, mostly on private land. We do this through our Priority Habitats Programme and in looking after the large tract of original native forest in Tōtara Reserve Regional Park. We also work to empower our communities to look after the region’s natural environments through our Biodiversity Partnerships Programme. This work includes active partnering on six Icon Site projects, including the Papangaio Manawatu Estuary and Te Āpiti Manawatū, as well as through the provision of community grants which the public can apply for each year for projects that enhance and protect our environment. Find out more about Grants and Sponsorship. You can read more about our biodiversity programmes below: