Welcome to our hub for Catchment Collectives, collaborative networks that connect and support local catchment communities across Aotearoa.
On this page, you’ll find:
- A directory of North Island and South Island Collectives, showcasing groups from across the motu
- The strengths and challenges of Catchment Collectives in Aotearoa. It shows that while community-led collaboration is driving meaningful environmental progress, long-term success depends on stable funding, regional coordination, and continued investment in people and local leadership.
- A practical resource on how to form a Catchment Collective, with tips and guidance to help you get started.
- Catchment Collectives background information
- Definitions for “catchment group,” “collective,” and “regional collective,” to ensure consistent understanding and use across our work.
CATCHMENT COLleCTIVES - AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Collaboration for greater impact and streamlined resourcing
Definitions
Catchment Groups
Groups of landowners and land users, collectively addressing shared issues within a specific hydrological unit/catchment area.
Catchment Collectives
Umbrella organisations that include multiple catchment groups and provide administrative, governance, communications and advocacy functions.
Sub-Regional Catchment Collectives
Sub-regional collectives are umbrella organisations that bring together catchment groups within a defined sub-region, providing coordination, governance, and advocacy. They foster collaboration across neighbouring catchments and represent a unified voice for their member groups. In larger regions, sub-regional collectives are formed to coordinate efforts on a manageable scale. Examples of this structure include the Mid Canterbury Catchment Collective or Rangitikei Rivers Catchment Collective.
Regional Catchment Collectives
Umbrella organisations that unite catchment groups and collectives across an entire region, providing coordination, governance, and advocacy. Operating at a regional scale (for example, Thriving Southland), they represent the collective voice of their member groups.
Collective Directory
This list of Catchment Collectives is a work in progress. NZ Landcare Trust is continually updating this information as new groups form and existing ones evolve. The list may not yet include every collective operating across Aotearoa
Regional Catchment Collectives
Click the link to explore the group’s website and find out more about their mahi
Taranaki Catchment Communities (TCC)
Supports 16 catchment groups and their sub-catchment groups across Taranaki.
Otago Catchment Community Inc (OCC)
Supports 27 catchment groups and their sub-catchment groups across Otago.
Thriving Southland
Supports 35 catchment groups across Southland, covering over 90% of the region.
North Island Catchment Collectives & sub-Regional Catchment Collectives
Click the link for more information on the group
Northland
Kaipara Moana Harbour Remediation
Waikato
West Waikato Coastal Community Catchment Collective
Predator Free Hauraki Coromandel Community Trust
Western Firth Catchment Group Trust
Bay of Plenty
Gisborne – Hawke’s Bay
Between the Two Rivers Catchment Collective (B2R)
Karamu River Catchment Collective
Kaweka Community Catchment Collective
Tairāwhiti Catchment Collective
Manawatū–Whanganui
Manawatū River Catchments Collective (MRCC)
Rangitikei Rivers Catchment Collective (RRCC)
Whanganui Region Catchment Collective
Puketoi to the Pacific Catchment Collective (PPCC)
Wellington / Wairarapa
The Wairarapa Catchment Collective
Wairarapa Pūkaha to Kawakawa Alliance
South Island Catchment Collectives & sub-Regional Catchment Collectives
Visit the group’s website by clicking the link below.
Top of the South
Te Hoiere Pelorus Catchment Collective
Canterbury
Hurunui District Landcare Group
Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust
Mid-Canterbury Catchment Collective (MCCC)
Living Landscapes South Canterbury Catchment Collective
Mackenzie Basin Catchment Collective
Otago
Catchment collectives in Aotearoa background
Catchment Collectives are emerging as a powerful way for rural communities to work together on environmental challenges. They bring multiple catchment groups under one umbrella, offering support with funding, administration, training, and large scale environmental projects while still allowing each local group to keep its own identity, goals, and projects.
The idea took shape in the early 2020s, when farmers and community leaders recognised that local groups were often facing the same challenges limited admin capacity, competing for the same funding, and missing opportunities to collaborate. By working together at a collective level, they could share resources, reduce barriers, and deliver bigger results.
One of the earliest and most successful examples is Thriving Southland, formed in 2020 to support 18 catchment groups across the region. Today, it works with over 35 groups, covering 90% of Southland’s productive land and involving more than 2,000 community members. Similar initiatives have since sprung up across Aotearoa, each with its own structure and way of working, some calling themselves “collectives,” others “umbrella” or “support” organisations.
Some Catchment Collectives operate as standalone legal entities, while others have no formal legal status. Regardless of structure, they are increasingly recognised by government as vital partners in freshwater management, helping bridge the gap between policy and on-the-ground action. By connecting farmers, landowners, iwi, and communities with technical expertise and funding opportunities, Catchment Collectives enable more coordinated, collaborative, and effective environmental outcomes.
Each Catchment Collective in Aotearoa reflects the character of its region, yet all share a common purpose: supporting local groups to improve freshwater quality, restore ecosystems, and build resilient communities.
Challenges and Opportunities for Catchment Collectives
Catchment Collectives have become one of the most effective ways for rural communities to work together on shared environmental challenges. They bring farmers, iwi, landowners, and local residents together to improve water quality, biodiversity, and land use practices. Their strength lies in collaboration, being locally led, grounded in community priorities, and built on trust.
However, as these networks grow, so do the challenges of sustaining them. Recent research and interviews, including insights from Thriving Southland and Scarlatti’s Catchment Mitigation Processes Report (2025) and Parliamentary Commissioner of Environment report Going with the Grain highlight both the pressures and the possibilities ahead.
Opportunities
Building stronger Catchment Collectives provides a structure for sharing resources, expertise, and advocacy across multiple local groups. This model supports efficiency, consistency, and a stronger regional voice while keeping community ownership at the heart of decisions.
Long-term impact through stable funding
Core funding for coordination, governance, and communication is the foundation that allows groups to thrive. When baseline support is secure, collectives can focus on long-term outcomes such as improving waterways, reducing emissions, and restoring biodiversity rather than constantly chasing short-term grants.
Strength in collaboration
Catchment groups excel at peer-to-peer learning. Farmers talking with farmers, sharing success stories, and building confidence in change is one of the most powerful forms of extension. Collectives can magnify this by connecting local experience with national expertise and policy.
Challenges
Funding system instability
Current funding for catchment groups is widely viewed as unsustainable. It is fragmented, inconsistently allocated, and often short-term. This limits strategic planning, creates administrative inefficiency, and risks losing the skilled people who make the system work.
Balancing regional scale with local identity
While larger regional structures may bring efficiency, they must also protect the autonomy and identity of individual groups. The challenge is finding the right balance between coordination and community ownership.
Administrative burden
Both funders and groups face inefficiencies and duplication in managing numerous small contracts nationwide. Consolidating contracts through Catchment Collectives could streamline administration, reduce costs, and improve delivery outcomes. However, this approach must be carefully designed to ensure smaller groups retain visibility, voice, and equitable access to support.
Capacity and continuity
Catchment work depends on people — coordinators, leaders, and local champions. Funding uncertainty and limited resourcing make it hard to retain this capability. Continuity and relationship-building take time, and once lost, they are difficult to rebuild.
Looking Ahead
The future of Catchment Collectives lies in creating a balanced national, regional, and local model that recognises their unique role in bridging policy and action.
By securing core funding for coordination, enabling flexible regional structures, and continuing to invest in people, science, and community leadership, Aotearoa can strengthen the foundation that allows catchment communities to thrive, delivering long-term environmental outcomes and resilient rural communities.
Resources
Below is a collection of videos featuring presentations from some of the larger Catchment Collectives across Aotearoa.You can return to the “Lasting the Long Game” resource page to explore more tools and guidance for established groups, or chat with the Landcare Buddy in the bottom left corner of this site for quick support and tailored advice. You can download how to form a catchment collective guide here.
Explore our catchment Map
This map highlights the national network of regional catchment collectives, catchment collectives, environmental groups, and catchment groups across Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a dynamic, interactive resource designed to represent the full ‘catchment ecosystem’, showcasing the diversity of groups active across the motu and supported or funded by a wide range of organisations.
While many of the groups featured are supported by NZ Landcare Trust, others are not. We intentionally include a broad range of groups to ensure comprehensive representation, help reduce duplication, and strengthen collaboration across the wider catchment community.
The map is community-driven and continues to evolve as groups grow, change, or emerge. Regular updates ensure it remains a living reflection of the collective efforts underway to care for land, water, and communities.
Please note: NZ Landcare Trust does not share any catchment group information or shapefiles with external organisations.
Want your Catchment or Environmental Group featured?
You’re welcome to be included