Conservationist Nicola MacDonald named NZ Environmental Hero of the Year

Nicola MacDonald, New Zealand Environmental Hero of the Year Te Toa Taiao o te Tau winner. Photo / New Zealander of the Year Awards

Nicola MacDonald is being celebrated as an environmental hero.

The dedicated conservationist has been named 2024 New Zealand Environmental Hero of the Year Te Toa Taiao o te Tau winner at the New Zealander of the Year Awards in Tāmaki Makaurau on Wednesday evening.

When first nominated for the award, MacDonald (Ngāti Wai, Te Rarawa, and Taranaki) said she was inspired by contributing to something far greater than herself.

“I’m inspired every single day by working in the natural world, knowing in some small way I’m contributing to a greater ecosystem, far bigger than me. Far bigger than anybody else.

“The 21st century is a time of technology, it’s a digital time, and what makes our work so important in taiao, in the environment, is that it reconnects people to the natural state of life.”

MacDonald led the deployment of the world’s largest shellfish bed restoration (150 tonnes of mussels) in Te Moananui-ā-Toi / Hauraki Gulf and was also involved in the planting of more than 350,000 trees in the Mahurangi to combat the impacts of climate change.

As well, she is a co-researcher on a project examining mātauranga Māori methods for the use of natural fibres to replace plastic ropes used for mussel spat.

“Nicola’s drive to tackle issues head on attracts people to join her in combating threats to te taiao/the environment, particularly her leadership in facing the invasion of the exotic caulerpa weed where she enlisted experts from California to help address this issue,” a New Zealander of the Year Awards profile says.

A member of the governance board of the Māori Women’s Welfare League and the climate change platform Oho Mauri Trust, MacDonald is also chair of the Auckland Conservation Board, Pou Taiao (representing the 19 mana whenua of Tāmaki Makaurau) and co-chair of the Hauraki Gulf Forum.