Aotea / Great Barrier Local Board

21/10/2026

👋 Come and chat to some of our friendly Auckland Emergency Management team who are over for the Labour Weekend Market. They can give you some great tips for preparing for emergencies.

📆 Saturday 24 October, from 10am
📍GBI Sports & Social Club, Claris

16/10/2026

🐦 Calling all bird lovers – the 2026 Aotea Bird Count needs you!

Aotea Great Barrier Environmental Trust is looking for volunteers to help count our feathered friends across the island!

📆 Friday 4 December 2026 (weather permitting)
🌧 Backup day: Saturday 5 December

The Aotea Bird Count is a community-led project that helps us understand how bird populations are changing across the island.

You don't need to be a bird expert to take part! Volunteers work in small teams, with experienced counters helping those who are new. Volunteers take part in a one-hour training session, and then around four hours on the morning of the count, visiting designated sites and recording the birds seen and heard.

📨 Get in touch with [email protected] to register your interest.

📸 Photo by Kim Bannister

14/10/2026

😎💼 Find your next outfit, accessory, game or household item at Anamata Shop. Or drop off your quality items so that someone else can treasure them. The local board supports Anamata with funding for zero waste initiatives.

13/10/2026

🌏 Applications are now open for the latest round of Te Ara Urutau Climate and Emergency Ready Fund to support community-led projects focused on reducing our climate impact.

ℹ Find out more ⬇

Applications open for community-led climate projects across Auckland, because some of the biggest changes start with a handful of people doing things differently.

09/10/2026

🆕 A new exhibition opens today at Aotea Arts & History Village!
"Wilding Within" by Helen McLorinan and Rebecca McCulloch is on until 28 October.

08/10/2026

🚚 We're great at reusing and recycling, but sometimes we have things that are well and truly worn out. Inorganic collections for Aotea / Great Barrier Island need to be booked before 28 October.

Find out more about these collections:

Bookings are now open for annual inorganic collections across Waiheke Island, Aotea / Great Barrier Island and Rakino Island.

30/09/2026

🐀 What started as an opportunity to teach a young child about kaitiakitanga (protection of the environment) became a major rat trapping operation.

Read about Whangaparapara Rat Pack's journey from eight to 275 traps: https://tinyurl.com/Whangaparapara-Rat-Pack

28/09/2026

Auckland Council is reviewing its community grants policy to ensure funding continues to make a difference for communities and provides good value for money.

Around $25 million is distributed each year through regional and local grants, supporting community groups, events, arts, sports, environmental projects and more.

Community groups, grant recipients and those who have missed out are encouraged to share their experiences and ideas. Your feedback will help shape how community grants are delivered in the future.

Auckland Council is taking a fresh look at how it distributes grants to make sure funding continues to make a difference to Auckland’s communities while delivering value for money.  

27/09/2026

🌼🌿 The annual Spectacular By Nature Garden Tours are back for 2026, with limited tickets left for tours and related events.

📅 Saturday 28 November 2026
🎟 Information and tickets: https://gbigardentour.nz/

These events are a major fundraiser for the Great Barrier Island Community Health Trust.

26/09/2026

There are two grants available for rural landowners and community groups who work on projects that:

💦 Improve water quality and freshwater ecosystems
🌱 Improve flood plains and wetlands to reduce the impact of flooding

Applications close on 29 September. Check out the article to learn more.

Local boards chip in an extra $280,000 to help rural landowners tackle erosion, restore wetlands and improve water quality across the region.