Environment Action Tuakau
Environment Action Tuakau
“Creativity is going to save us. It is the answer. It is absolutely the answer”
Just down the road from the township of Tuakau, on the banks of the Waikato River, a grassroots environmental initiative has grown from local concern into a living example of what community, creativity, and care can achieve together.
Environment Action Tuakau, led by Chair Heather McGuire and founding member Chris McGuire, is more than a conservation project. It is the transformation of land and mindset, and an example of what happens when ordinary people decide to take responsibility for the place they call home.
The origins of Environment Action Tuakau are grounded in a moment of tension. A proposal to extend the consent of a rendering plant on the banks of the Waikato River sparked concern and ultimately, action.
Chris McGuire explains. “Without Heather’s drive, nothing would have occurred. It all started just prior to Covid when the then rendering plant wanted renewal and extension of its town planning consents to discharge treated water.”
For Chris and Heather, the issue was not just technical or regulatory, it was deeply philosophical. “Here we are on the banks of the longest river in the country,” Chris says. “And nowhere else in the world would you find a rendering plant on the most iconic waterway of that country.”
Opposing that consent became the catalyst. While the extension was granted, it was only brief, and something larger had already been set in motion. “That got us in,” Chris reflects. “And we’ve just been doing our bit ever since.”
For Heather, that opening action quickly developed into something far more expansive. “Our group was established in response to a huge need here in Tuakau on our beautiful awa,” she says. “So, in the process of dealing with that, we realised there was a much bigger picture…for our awa and whenua and our region, our country, our planet.”
At the core of Environment Action Tuakau is a simple philosophy: remove what harms and restore what belongs. “It’s our mantra, it’s our answer to everything,” Heather says. “We must eradicate weeds and plant natives.”
This clarity has allowed the group to move forward without being overwhelmed by complexity. Chris recalls the early days of the site as almost unrecognisable.
“Where we’re sitting right now, when we started here was an absolute mass of woolly nightshade. It covered everything. Worse, the morning glory was in the process of strangling the mature kahikateas.” The response was immediate.
“I guess instinctively we knew we had to clear weeds and once we’d cleared them, get the plantings going,” Chris explains. “There was no massive master planting plan. We just sort of did it… instinctively and intuitively as we went along.”
What has followed is nothing short of remarkable. Hundreds of native plants including harakeke, mānuka, tī kōuka, tītoki, and notably puriri have been introduced and are thriving.
“Almost without exception, our plantings are thriving,” Chris says. “You go away for a month and they’re bigger when you come back.”
The results speak to both the resilience of native ecosystems and the care invested in their restoration. What sets Environment Action Tuakau apart is not just what they are doing, but how they are doing it. Creativity is not an added bonus but central to the project’s success.
“It’s been the most amazing hikoi and it has drawn marvellous creativity from me and from other people,” Heather says. “The variety of challenges has meant that creativity has had to arrive from many wellsprings.”
For Heather, creativity is not confined to traditional artistic practice. It is a way of thinking, a method of problem-solving, and ultimately, a tool for survival.
“Creativity is going to save us. It is the answer. It is absolutely the answer,” she says.
This unique way of thinking has seen the project expand in multiple, imaginative ways. From creating visual storytelling tools to making a film about the importance of the Waikato River, the project continually finds new ways to engage people.
Even practical elements of the site carry creative significance. A recently installed seating area, built from recycled timber and repurposed fence posts, is both functional and symbolic.
“This is just recycled timber that somebody was going to burn,” Heather explains. “My brother, he and I designed this. We put it together and just the joy of getting it done… it’s a huge achievement.”
It is creativity grounded in resourcefulness and what Heather describes as the “number eight wire” spirit that continues to turn limitations into opportunities.
While the McGuires have played a pivotal role, they are clear that this is not a personal project. “This isn’t the Chris and Heather show at all,” Heather says. “It’s about the people. It’s about our whole river community.”
Building that community has been a deliberate and ongoing effort. Initiatives such as the Tuakau River Community Hui have brought residents together, fostering a shared sense of ownership and responsibility.
“We want to connect our community and we want to create so much aroha for it,” Heather says.
A key focus is engaging young people, the future guardians of the environment.
“Our tamariki and our rangatahi, they are our succession plan,” she explains.
This engagement is hands-on and experiential. Activities like nature-based treasure hunts with local youth groups encourage children to learn the landscape and identify plants like harakeke while developing a personal connection to the environment.
“Everything that we do is to bring them here to this gorgeous place and to develop a relationship with it and to own it and to want to care for it,” Heather says.
The development of the project has been anything but linear. External challenges from Covid restrictions to personal health setbacks have shaped its pace. “There were those kinds of dilemmas,” Heather says of the early days. “But gradually over five years it’s grown.”
Rather than rigid planning, the approach has been adaptive.
“It’s about having a creative mind and thinking, right, this is our priority now. We’ll achieve this. And we’ll celebrate it,” she explains.
Support has come from a range of sources, including local government, community members, and funding bodies. Each contribution has helped push the project forward, often in unexpected ways. This organic growth has allowed the project to remain responsive to the land and to the community.
Looking ahead, the ambitions for Environment Action Tuakau are both grounded and expansive. Heather envisions the site as a place of wellbeing and connection.
“I’d like to see people being able to come down here for wellbeing and joy,” she says.
Chris echoes this sentiment. “It will be a wonderful place, a rejuvenating place for people to come and just watch the river and enjoy the beautiful trees that are here.”
And the vision extends beyond Tuakau itself. A proposed koru project – a large-scale, spiral-shaped walkway and planting design embodies this ambition. Combining sculpture, education, and ecological function, it would serve as both a gathering space and a filtration system through extensive harakeke planting.
“It’s a sculpture and a walkway,” Heather explains. “A central point for students, for weavers, for a picnic, for a performance… for whatever people want to do.”
The idea is not just to build one, but many replicated along the Waikato River as a network of environmental and cultural hubs.
What Environment Action Tuakau demonstrates is that meaningful environmental change does not always begin with large-scale policy or funding. Sometimes, it begins with taking the first step.
“I care,” Heather says simply. “I utterly care about where we live.”
That care has translated into action: clearing weeds, planting natives, engaging community, and reimagining what a local environment can be. For Chris, the reward is both immediate and enduring.
“Knowing that you’re doing the right thing by nature is a wonderful feeling,” he says.
And in time, the impact will extend far beyond those who started it.