Environment Network Manawatū (ENM) was set up on 18 June 2001 to bring local communities together and work towards a better environment for Manawatū. Since then, we’ve been all about communication, cooperation, and taking action. What started as a small group of passionate people has grown into a unique environmental organisation, driven by the voices and ideas of over 65 member groups from across the region.
ENM is what it is today thanks to a bunch of expert volunteers who bring their skills and knowledge, as well as their energy to get things done.
Our Goals
Our goal is for all life is part of a thriving, self-sustaining ecosystem. Our vision is that the ecological and human communities in the Manawatū River catchment are living in harmony.
These days, ENM is all about connecting and inspiring communities to take action for the environment, while also providing leadership, support, and resources to help communities grow and thrive.
We are governed by our members
ENM is unusual in being governed by its members. An Annual General Meeting is held each year, at which the Management Committee is elected. These people are drawn from our member groups and affiliate members. The Committee takes an active role in the organisation, and sets the direction for staff activities. All are Welcome at the AGM, which is held in October each year.
Members may request a copy of Management Committee minutes from the ENM Administrator.
Bios of Management Committee members and staff may be viewed here.
Our latest annual report here.
Our Work
As we've grown, we've become more focused on being better Te Tiriti partners. To help us understand our role as tangata Tiriti, in 2023 we ran a series of workshops on Te Tiriti, with the second session co-led by Rangitāne. Building relationships with mana whenua is key, and we're proud to have groups like Te Ao Tūroa and the Te Kāuru Eastern Manawatū Hapū Collective as members. We’ve also worked alongside other mana whenua-led organisations on various projects.
Creating Community
At ENM, we’re all about creating strong communities. We bring together groups from all walks of life to work towards a common goal. Whether it's supporting new environmental initiatives or helping established ones grow, we're here to make sure everyone has the chance to get involved. We help build solid community connections and offer opportunities to network, share ideas, and work together. We also provide space for local solutions to grow by helping communities figure out what they need and how they can make a difference.
Building Capacity and Capability
We’re serious about environmental sustainability, and we know that to keep doing our mahi, we need to make sure our organisation is sustainable too. We're focused on growing the resources and skills that our sector and member groups need to thrive. We do this by helping build capacity through education, collaboration, and coordinating volunteers, so communities and organisations can get better at what they do.
Sector Leadership
ENM is proud to be Palmerston North City Council's lead organisation for environmental issues. As a member-led group, we work closely with our members to set the bar for best practice, coordinating efforts, communicating effectively, and advocating for the environment. We’re here to support our members and help them do their best mahi too.
Our Poū
Ensuring ENM is being efficient and effective in these key functions is pivotal and underpins all our other roles across the four Pou.
Climate Action
We acknowledge that climate action is interrelated with the other three focus areas, but we want to highlight this area as a specific focus area in the coming years because it is so critical. Everything we do as a sector fits in the climate change category, but for this focus area we are talking about actions that support emission reduction, degrowth, carbon sequestration, advocacy for climate-focussed policies, and development of living cities. We strive to support our member groups focused on climate awareness and support their advocacy aims, but also strive to develop our own stance to ensure we are holding local and central government to account. Note, this is a very emerging area for us and as we move into action the workstreams will likely develop further.
Biodiversity Protection and Enhancement
Many ENM members have a focus on biodiversity protection and enhancement, and freshwater quality. These groups meet regularly as Manawatū River Source to Sea, collectively working to enhance the mauri of the Manawatū River throughout the entire catchment by enhancing biodiversity and building community wellbeing. Supporting biodiversity members to build capability and capacity has been identified as a key overarching focus area for our Biodiversity Protection and Enhancement pou.
Community Food Sovereignty
This area of work is cross-sectoral, with both ENM members and social service organisations involved. These groups meet regularly as Manawatū Food Action Network, collectively working to enhance community wellbeing through many workstreams toward improving food resilience, food security and food sovereignty. The MFAN Coordinator plays a lead role in the Kai Sovereignty Squad of Ora Konnect, an iwi-led collaborative network working toward improving wellbeing in 4412. The 4412 Kai Resilience Strategy has been developed through and for this squad.
Circular Economy
A Circular Economy is based on the following three principles: Design out waste and pollution; Keep products and materials in use; Regenerate natural systems. It aims to minimise waste and to promote sustainable use of natural resources. Reducing waste to a minimum through sharing, leasing, reuse, repair, refurbishment and recycling, in an (almost) closed loop helps to tackle pollution and plays a critical role in solving other complex challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Collective understanding and community sharing is part of this, acknowledging that small, individual actions have a big impact and can inspire greater, collective momentum and change. We look to offer opportunities to get involved, to educate, upskill the public to make their own contributions and increase understanding of consumer choice/power.
We are grateful to our many supporters
- Palmerston North City Council (PNCC)
- Lottery Community
- Eastern and Central Community Trust
- Community Organization Grants Scheme (COGS)
- Pub Charity
- Horizons Regional Council (HRC)
- The Mazda Foundation
- The ANZ Staff Foundation.
- The DOC Jobs for Nature Initiative.
- Shanlyn Family Trust
- Manawatū River Leaders’ Accord
ENM on Facebook