View from The Over the Mountain hike
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is working towards breaking even this financial year.
Hikers enjoying the Over the Mountain walk
Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust, which operates the world’s largest predator proof fence at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari near Cambridge, made an operating loss of $34,000 in the financial year to June 30.
Cambridge News 23 October 2025
This year’s financial result compares to a loss of more than $500,000 the previous year.
The 3400-hectare operation which is home to more than 730 native species of flora, fauna and fungi, costs the trust $5000 a day.
Endangered wildlife includes the North Island brown kiwi, kākāpō, and Hochstetter’s frog.
Asked how the result had been accomplished ahead of Tuesday’s annual meeting, Sanctuary Mountain chief executive Helen Hughes said: “Through sheer exhaustion.”
“It’s a combination of operational efficiency and looking at more ways to bring in more money,” she said.
Last year Hughes told The News that a cash flow crisis could force the trust to shut up shop in six weeks following the loss of $300,000 worth of contestable Department of Conservation funding.
“I feel like I am screaming in a crowded space, and nobody is listening,” Hughes said at the time.
Helen Hughes
Last August the trust had to let seven of its 13 mountain rangers go, as $589,000 worth of DOC Jobs for Nature funding dried up.
In February the project started to turn the corner when a one-off funding injection of $750,000 over three years was announced by the government.
Another announcement this financial year will help the trust edge further out of the red.
Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, in partnership with New Zealand based environmental consultancy Ekos, launched biodiversity credits on an international trading platform.
The 3400-hectare operation which is home to more than 730 native species of flora, fauna and fungi, costs the trust $5000 a day.
“Our 1000-year plan and our scale provide the opportunity to test new ways of doing things, including finding new revenue streams to enable the sanctuary to continue to deliver exceptional biodiversity outcomes,” Hughes said at the time.
She says the fund is ticking along.
Hughes has worked to attract more grants and recently hosted a group of philanthropic funders to showcase the work of the project.
Staff are also looking at other forms of revenue, including expanding the range of items available in the shop, providing a shuttle service for those tramping across the mountain, and new nature tours of the enclosure.
View from The Over the Mountain hike
