News and media
Te Araroa Trust gains national recognition
Te Araroa Trust has gained recognition by winning the Organisational Excellence Award at the 2016 New Zealand Recreation Association Outdoor Awards.
The award, sponsored by the Mountain Safety Council, recognised the gains made by Te Araroa in the last year - progressing the Trail with the opening of new routes (spearheaded by the spectacular Paekakariki Escarpment Track) and also significant progress on the sustainability of the Trust itself.
The award citation read:
Over a period of many years Te Araroa Trust has developed a highly respected national pathway that extends the length of New Zealand, joining together many iconic outdoor tracks and environments. The Trust and its regional committees have demonstrated organisational excellence through multiple local community-driven initiatives, including a commitment to fighting kauri dieback in Northland. They have also shown foresight through investment in staff professional development and long-term Board planning for a sustainable future, recognition of the full range of needs of trail users, and a collaborative approach with other organisations and landholders.
Accepting the award on behalf of Te Araroa Trust, Rob Wakelin paid tribute to the vision of Geoff Chapple and noted that Geoff would enjoy seeing the Trust recognised by a group of outdoor sector peers that hadn't always supported the concept of Te Araroa. Though over time, extensive efforts collaborating with other groups and the growing popularity and credibility of the Trail has brought a number of doubters around.
Tribute was also paid to the very generous landowners who allow the Trail to pass over their properties, the growing number of volunteers around the country, the hospitable folk who take in walkers and give them a slice of Kiwi life and culture and of course the intrepid walkers who tackle the Te Araroa challenge and inspire us all.
