Media release – 23 August 2016

New brand outlines Taranaki Mounga’s vision

Taranaki Mounga, the conservation project ecologically transforming the mountains, ranges and off-shore islands of Taranaki, has today unveiled its new branding, website and action plan.

He Kawa Ora – Back to Life was the inspiration for the project’s new branding. The brand logo was designed by New Plymouth web and graphic design company, Little Rocket, with input from key iwi representatives of the iwi collective, Ruakere Hond, Will Edwards and Hemi Sundgren, DOC and the Taranaki Mounga team.

Taranaki Mounga director Jan Hania says he is delighted with the result.

“The symbols tell the story of the project and its vision for the mounga and Little Rocket have done a great job in representing this. He Kawa Ora – Back to Life sets out the process to reinvigorate the mountain,” he says.

The brand logo incorporates the mountain into the silhouette of a native bird using a koru to represent the ‘new bird song’ and new life that will return and flourish on the Mounga.

Mr Hania says the $24 million Taranaki Mounga project will build on previous conservation work undertaken in the national park by DOC, community groups and members of the Taranaki Biodiversity Trust now known as Wild for Taranaki.

“Taranaki Mounga has an ambitious list of actions for its first few years and without the effort these groups have already put in, the challenge to ecologically restore the mounga would be even harder,” he says.

The initial conservation work being undertaken by Taranaki Mounga is outlined in the project’s new website www.taranakimounga.nz. It includes extending the national park’s existing stoat trapping network by 2,000 ha to further protect whio and kiwi; returning North Island robin / Toutouwai in autumn 2017; eradicating goats from the national park; removing key weed species; working towards a seabird colony enclosure; and investigating translocations of kaka, kakariki, and seabirds.

To follow Taranaki Mounga’s progress the public can sign up to receive the project’s newsletter via the website and follow Taranaki Mounga’s Facebook page.

ENDS

About Taranaki Mounga
Taranaki Mounga will push the boundaries in landscape-scale ecological restoration over a 20-year period. It includes 34,000 ha of national park encompassing Taranaki, Pouakai, Kaitake and extending 3km to the protected Nga Motu/Sugarloaf Islands.
Taranaki Mounga is governed by a consortium of representatives of the Taranaki iwi Chairs, the NEXT Foundation, the Department of Conservation (DOC), and other partners, to collaboratively work towards transforming the mountain, ranges and outer Ngāmotu Islands to long term ecological resilience.
The project will use innovative pest management within and around the national park and near-shore islands to enable rare and vulnerable wildlife to flourish once again. Threatened species like robin/toutouwai, kiwi, whio/blue duck and petrels will be replenished and bolstered, thriving once more on one of New Zealand’s most revered mountains.

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