Nineteen Māori artists with ancestral links throughout Te Taitokerau have generously donated artworks that will be up for auction online, on April 20, for the Tiaki Taiao online fundraising auction. Our goal is to raise funds for our kaupapa, Tiaki Taiao.

Indiscriminate destruction of the natural environment has impacted on traditional creative expression. The devastation of the climate disaster is being felt in our own backyards. We understand now more than ever how critical it is to reaffirm our relationship to the natural environment and take actions that restore and care for that world. 

By bidding on these beautiful artworks you will help us develop a cultural inventory of natural resources in Te Taitokerau. In taking this critical first step for Tiaki Taiao together with your support, Toi Ngāpuhi can develop a meaningful and practical multi-year Tiaki Taiao programme that will regenerate and revive landscapes throughout Te Taitokerau, and empower future generations to care for our lands and waterways in a sustainable way. 

Tiaki Taiao is about reciprocity of care to the environment - kaitiakitanga - and the responsibility carried by mana whenua and communities living in relationship to these spaces within te taiao. This work acknowledges the role of artists as caretakers, nurturers and protectors of our natural world, and acknowledges the natural world as a source of mana, identity, inspiration and nourishment. 

It is our landscapes - mountains, wetlands and taonga species - and our waterways - springs, rivers, lakes and oceans - that compel us to do better.  

Reaffirming Māori lifeways regenerates landscapes. Mā te motuhake Māori ka haumanu. This is Tiaki Taiao.