Education Experiences Available

Bring your ākonga along to see the maunga in a totally different light.

What do glowworms, wētā and batman have in common? Yes, you’re more likely to see them when it’s dark! We are now offering educational night walks.

FROM $30 per student

Conservation Education Programme for International Students

Bringing the sanctuary to the world in our virtual classroom!

Sanctuary Mountain® Maungatautari would love to bring conservation to your classroom through a virtual online learning session. It's the next best thing to a visit!

FROM $100 per session

Conservation Education Programme (NZ Schools and NZ Tertiary)

Come to the sanctuary and learn!

We plan our conservation education programme in collaboration with teachers to meet local curriculum needs.

FROM $11 per student

FAQs

Interested in our Education Programme? Questions about lunch options? Find out the answers to the most frequently asked questions!

Location

The Manu Tīoriori visitor centre is open from 9:00am to 4:00pm daily (closed 25th December). Entrance to the southern enclosure is available during Manu Tīoriori visitor centre opening hours.

Gallery

Sanctuary Mountain® Maungatautari is all about its native environment and inhabitants! Have a look at some of our birdlife and other taonga species.

What our visitors say

I've hiked many, many forests around New Zealand, but this one hits differently. You just know you're in as native of an NZ forest as it can get, thanks to the predator-proof fence that takes a lot of work and money to maintain. The forest is alive with the beautiful songs of many...

Meggie Tran

I loved going here. It's a little piece of calm. Staff are welcoming and helpful.

Carlos

A really great sanctuary, with some incredible birdlife. If you’re slow and quiet enough you may get a little show from the Piwakawaka.

Jack Howe

Great experience and wonderful staff so friendly and helpful. The bush and birdlife are amazing, have to go back to do the wetland tour to see the tuatara.

Gary Chapman

Very friendly guides, full of knowledge and passionate about what they do. We were lucky enough to see different types of native birds, including a very inquisitive kākā. They are wild, so keep that in mind when you visit (the guides can't make them appear on demand!).

Pam Chapman

Great place to visit, nice and cool in the trees.

David Peters

If you want to see New Zealand's nocturnal animals, go here. Of course, there are day tours as well as night tours. I went on a night tour and it was great. I was happy to see glow worms, go up to the observatory, and see many stars in the night sky! This is not a zoo, but a conservation...

HyoJin Yang (YY)

Really well laid out trails with good info on the flora. We were lucky enough to see quite a few of the native birds and even get some pictures.

Lisa Harris

My wife and I live in Miami and visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari during a trip to New Zealand a month ago. Our guide was Jenny. We were very impressed with her sincerity as well as your organization and the success of your work.

Anonymous, Miami, USA

An awesome project done solely by the community. Many thanks! Our friend from Switzerland and we hiked for more than 6 hours on parts of Te Tonga and Werere Traverse tracks and encountered many beautiful birds and scenery. After the hike, we had a rest at the visitor center with a great view and...

Jeffrey Ke