Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua

Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua

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About the organisation

One of eight Crown Research Institutes (CRIs), Landcare Research’s core purpose is to drive innovation in the management of terrestrial biodiversity and land resources. Our goal is to both protect and enhance the land environment and grow the country’s prosperity.

We have ten science portfolios, aligned to our key stakeholders’ research needs, to help achieve four important national outcomes:

  • Improve the measurement, management and protection of New Zealand’s terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity, including those in the conservation estate.
  • Achieve the sustainable use of land resources and their ecosystem services across catchments and sectors.
  • Improve the measurement and mitigation of greenhouse gases from the terrestrial biosphere.
  • Increase the ability of New Zealand industries and organisations to develop within environmental limits and meet market and community requirements.
CRIs were formed in 1992 as independent companies that are owned by, and accountable to, the New Zealand Government. Our shareholders are the Minister of Finance and Minister of Science and Innovation.

We have approximately 380 staff at nine locations across New Zealand, including a subsidiary, carboNZeroCertTM at Lincoln and Auckland. We collaborate extensively with other research organisations in New Zealand and around the world.

Our science revenue (about $60 million per year) is derived primarily from contracts with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Ministry for the Environment (MfE), Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Department of Conservation (DOC), Animal Health Board (AHB), local government, private sector businesses and organisations, and Māori organisations.

Sustainability is embedded throughout our organisation and evidenced in both our research focus and our day-to-day operational activities. We report comprehensively on this in the sustainability section of this site.

Manaaki whenua – Manaaki tangata (Care for the land – Care for the people)

Our Māori name means to care for the land in the sense that the environment is inextricably linked to economic, societal and cultural well-being. Māori are tangata whenua, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, with whom we consult and collaborate.