We have kept the earth warm
Growing healthy, nutrient-dense organic food is one activity that is immediately apparent to all who visit, but that is not our only relationship with the environment.
As the society caring for the Sanctuary Mahi Whenua we are the tiaki (guardians) of the space.
We see the Sanctuary Mahi Whenua as a resource that is used by others, whether as a place to enjoy nature or as an educational tool.
We are committed to engaging with our wider community. Here are some of the ways in which we currently support the community.
We have created a place for enjoyment and learning in the community.
We showcase to the wider community organic horticultural and permaculture principles.
We promote the production of nutritionally-rich food in a sustainable way to foster healthy lifestyles and environments.
We maintain the Sanctuary gardens and food forest as a community research and demonstration resource promoting self-sufficiency using organic horticultural techniques.
We encourage the use of the Sanctuary for wide-ranging educational purposes.
We recognise the Sanctuary is a taonga and Sanctuary members are tiaki.
We look after the significant trees of the Sanctuary originally planted by Unitec staff.
We seek to maintain positive relationships with Unitec Institute of Technology as a community partner and maintain the Sanctuary environs. Likewise we seek to maintain positive relationships with the current landowner, Ministry for Housing and Urban Development, and with mana whenua who will get land title to this space.
We inform the community about the historical significance of the Sanctuary as gardens established by pre-European Māori and later used by the asylum kitchen.
We will be a food source for the local community at times of civil emergencies.
We will carry on any other aim which may seem to Sanctuary members capable of being conveniently carried on in connection with the above aims, or calculated directly or indirectly to advance the aims of the Sanctuary Mahi Whenua.
