The overarching goal of the project is to establish a habitat for rare and lost native birds and connect the regeneration efforts to the greater Waiheke Island and Auckland region. For the past 15 years this project has been mostly privately funded with current ownership being for 8 years, during which time Paul, the owner, has contributed countless hours to regenerating the forest with help from WWOOFers, contractors and his son, Sam. In the past 15 years more than 18,000 trees have been planted and what ‘feels like’ a million weeds have been removed with over 1,500 hours of labour recorded in the just past two years.

Mawhitipana Valley, on the northern coast of Waiheke Island, is an important catchment area with a water course and wetland that flows into Little Palm Beach and the wider Mawhitipana Bay.  It is a part of the greenbelt that separates the more urban areas of Waiheke – and is now an important link in the “bird-corridor” that stretches from Oneroa to Te Toki Reserve.

Little Palm Beach is a popular anchorage and public swimming beach, reached by a steep track or walking around the rocks at Palm Beach.  A look-out at the top of the track is frequently used by residents, visitors and tourist buses.  Photographs from this look-out and on the beaches below are frequently used to promote Waiheke.

One of the hallmarks of the MVP is the focus on education, volunteering and community engagement. Recent examples of this are:

• MVP is actively engaged in the island-wide pest eradication programme and has installed and monitors stoat traps and bait stations;
• In the past years, MVP has hosted numerous planting days with various groups comprising our personnel and members of local communities; 
• Key people from MVP regularly have spoken at community events such as weed or pest eradication workshops at Waiheke Resources Trust informing the Waiheke public about weeds and pests and how to manage them;
• there is a good working relationship with Treescape, the company that has started managing the Mawhitipana Reserve which borders the MVP. This is important for MVP as there is an opportunity to support each other and work collaboratively around boundaries and broaden the ecological integrity of Mawhitipana Valley;
• MVP hosts guided tours through the valley for the Waiheke Walking Festival;
• MVP is proactively engaging with and supporting the Waiheke Collective objectives in Palm Beach and further afield.
• MVP has initiated a programme to take care of the neighbouring Mawhitipana Reserve

Except for a small area of old-growth Taraire forest, the Valley had been almost completely deforested and the wetland significantly degraded until 2007 when the previous landowner began replanting native trees. 

Since purchasing the land in 2012, the current owner has covenanted most of the land including the wetland.  Over the past 5 years more than 70 volunteer workers and about a dozen paid workers have been engaged for weed control, predator control, watering, planting and tending new trees.  For the first 2-3 years the primary focus was on clearing invasive weeds such as moth plant, woolly nightshade, gorse, pampas grass, bone-seed, climbing asparagus, wild ginger, Japanese honeysuckle, wattle and others.  Weed control is carried out in accordance with the Waiheke Local Board’s restoration principles i.e. manually, with some cutting and pasting.

Since then, a further ~9-10,000 seedlings have been planted, tended and watered.  Significant quantities of the following species were specifically sourced and/or propagated on Waiheke:  Manuka, Kanuka, Mahoe, Taupata, Akeake, Mapou, Hebe, Nikau, Flax, Kawakawa, Karaka, Karo, Totara, Pohutakawa, Gris.Lucida, Cabbage Tree, Houpara, Lancewood, Miro, Kahikatea and Kowhai.