Poronui Station is owned by the Westervelt Company. Founded by Herbert Westervelt in 1884. Today Westervelt is a land resource organization taking an environmentally responsible, socially aware Highest and Best Use approach to nearly 500,000 acres of timberland and natural resources.

At Poronui we are committed to managing our operations and lands in an environmentally responsible manner. While we create sustainable value from our resources and relationships, we are committed to protecting the environment and to sustaining its quality for future generations.

To achieve this we will:

• Identify and protect high value environmental and cultural sites on our land.
• Continually improve our environmental practices.
• Use natural resources efficiently, reducing, reusing and recycling materials to minimise waste.
• Build long term partnerships with communities, clients and stakeholders to support sustainable environmental improvements.
• Minimise the environmental effects of our operations.
• Demonstrate environmental leadership and encourage other organisations to improve their environmental performance.

To support this we will:

• Ensure our managers are accountable for action plans to deliver environmental improvements
• Comply with the requirements of environmental legislation
• Develop long term environmental plans for our lands
• Protect streamside zones, wetland areas and endangered species habitat
• Promote employee and contractor awareness of environmental issues through continuous training and communication programs
• Monitor and report our environmental performance internally to ensure compliance
• Communicate and train employees and contractors with respect to our environmental practices

We are totally committed to our conservation mission. We follow best management practices in all of our business endeavors, with a mission to preserve land for future generations. We ensure our commitments exceed environmental, legal, and regulatory requirements, and robustly pursue new practices to help support our environmental policy.

Poronui has been identified as a site with special environmental values.

The isolation of Poronui, combined with the foresight of its owners, means that large areas of native (indigenous) ecosystems still persist today. In order to enhance these values, we are working pro-actively to manage our outstanding natural environment and create a wilderness retreat for all to enjoy.

The Poronui wilderness is an incredibly valuable natural asset and needs to be preserved for future generations. In the meantime, you can visit this slice of heaven in New Zealand and experience it firsthand.

Ecology – Plant and Animals
Over a third of the area of Poronui is covered by indigenous beech forest which attracts abundant and diverse birdlife. Native birdlife includes the distinctive song of the tui, bellbird (korimako), morepork (ruru), native wood pigeon (kereru), hawks and falcons, and sometimes the rare kiwi or blue duck (whio).

Ecological restoration of selected areas is being undertaken and vulnerable or threatened species such as the bush falcon, the long-tailed bat and the short-tailed bat are being preserved.

Mohaka River and Taharua River
Both these rivers are protected under a National Water Conservation Order, due to the outstanding scenery, amenity for water-sports, and the outstanding trout fishery.

Fisheries Management
To preserve the quality of our fisheries we observe a strict catch and release policy and rotate the beats we fish on a 5-12 day cycle.

Kaimanawa Forest Park
Poronui shares its western border with the Kaimanawa Forest Park which is managed by the Department of Conservation on behalf of the NZ government. There is an access point into the Forest Park, through Poronui.

Pest Control
Poronui adopts a rigorous pest control programme to eradicate threats to the native flora and fauna.