Tapu te Ranga Marae

The name of the Marae was taken from Tapu Te Ranga Island, the island from which the name Island Bay is derived.  

In the late 1970s, Tapu Te Ranga Trust had been established and building construction was well underway. 

In 1987, the Sisters of Compassion asked the Tapu te Ranga Trust if it would like to add the hillside and adjacent areas to the Marae and, if so, what it would be used for.

 The Trust had already considered the idea of forest returning to the hillsides and  replied that most of the land would be a “bush and bird reserve” and that Marae facilities would be developed on the remaining portion. 

The Sisters of Compassion enthusiastically supported this vision and arrangements were soon made for the Trust to purchase the land by way of regular payments. 

In the spirit of Pope John Paul II’s new millennium initiative of inviting wealthy people and countries to write off debts owed to them by the poor, the Sisters of Compassion wrote off the remaining debt owed by Tapu Te Ranga Trust.

In June of 2017,  Kaumatua Bruce Stewart passed away,  the vision of a bush and bird reserve on Tapu te Ranga Marae land was a seed that grew into a thriving hillside of native trees, birds and lizards.

In June of 2019, there was a devastating fire at the Marae destroyed the main building.

This 30-year-old restoration project is one of the oldest restoration projects in Wellington and many hands have planted the trees, weeded the gorse, cut the scrub, cleared the tracks, nurtured the seedlings and most importantly enjoyed seeing the forest and birds return over these years.

Manawa Karioi is run by the Manawa Karioi Society (a registered charitable trust) with the full support of Tapu te Ranga Marae and we work in direct consultation with the whanau.