Kai + Wai
Kai and Wai sit at the heart of community wellbeing. Healthy water creates healthy food systems, and healthy food systems support strong people and resilient ecosystems.
About
Our Wai & Kai kaupapa brings these two threads together, guided by mana whenua and grounded in the understanding that kai and wai are inseparable. This programme connects waterway restoration, catchment care, māra kai, and community education, supporting the full cycle from the health of streams and wetlands to to quality, sovereignty and accessibility of kai.
Why it matters
When Waikato’s waterways are degraded, the impacts show up in our food systems, our health, and our climate resilience. Strong wai and kai systems mean cleaner water, healthier soils, food security, and protection of cultural practices such as mahinga kai.
Restoring waterways and local food systems also reduces emissions, strengthens ecosystems, and helps communities adapt to floods, droughts, and climate stress.
Restoring kai systems is part of decolonising how we relate to land and food.
What you can do
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Join planting or clean‑up days along waterways
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Volunteer with a local catchment group
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Grow kai at home or in a community garden
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Support predator and pest control near waterways
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Back hapū‑led plans for water and kai restoration
Together, we can restore the strength of our waterways, grow resilient local food systems, and create a future where wai and kai are valued as the taonga they are.
