Protecting Waiheke's taonga for the future
Future tourism on Waiheke - Have your say!
Waiheke residents survey - click here
Project Forever Waiheke and the Local Board are keen to have Waiheke locals’ views on the impacts of tourism on your everyday lives, including aspects like housing access, the natural environment, public amenities, health and emergency services, water security, and the Waiheke economy. The survey will provide up to date information future planning by the Waiheke Local Board and Auckland Council, and for the Waiheke community at large. The research findings will be published on this website in April this year and advertised in the Waiheke Gulf News.
Project Forever Waiheke (PFW) was launched in late 2017 by locals with a mission to ensure that Waiheke’s unique community and environments are protected for the future. PFW's goals are: to support the implementation of the Waiheke Island Sustainable Community and Tourism Strategy; to monitor tourism impacts on the island; and to facilitate community engagement and volunteering through our ‘MAD’ (Make a Difference) initiative.
The summers of 2017, 2018 and 2019 saw exponential increases in the numbers of tourists visiting Waiheke, and tourism development, largely unregulated, mushroomed to meet the demand. During 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic raging around the world, international tourism came to an abrupt end, and although domestic tourism has increased, the island’s tourism economy has suffered. PFW is now collaborating with other island organisations, in particular those in the tourism sector and the Waiheke Local Board, to champion regenerative tourism, and to monitor tourism impacts through robust research. The overarching goal is to achieve a sustainable balance to protect Waiheke’s ecology, economy and community while still sharing our beautiful island with visitors.
Project Forever Waiheke is led by a working group of people representing a broad range of interest areas, including conservationists and environmentalists, community development workers, tangata whenua, local business, university academics, and the Waiheke Local Board. Read more...
Do you need volunteers to get involved in your group’s activities? Would you like to volunteer to help keep Waiheke’s community and environment vibrant and healthy? MAD About Waiheke’s goal is to promote sustainable community and community engagement on the island. Read more...
Read Project Forever Waiheke news, including media releases and articles about tourism impacts and initiatives for sustainable tourism, community and environments. Read more...
Project Forever Waiheke’s research and monitoring programme, Waiheke-Wise, is focusing in 2021-2023 on undertaking a cluster of research projects, in collaboration with the Waiheke Local Board and Waiheke Island Tourism Inc. Read more...
We would love to have the involvement of Waiheke islanders – residents or all ages, weekenders, students, community organisations, business owners, tourism operators – in the Project’s monitoring activities. Read more...
On the Resources page you will find a library of downloadable resources and useful links to reports, survey results, case studies and initiatives underway in other tourist destinations in New Zealand and around the world. You will also find a series of water conservation signs and notices for accommodation providers on this page. Read more…
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