State-owned enterprise Pāmu and not-for-profit True Nature have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore an afforestation and restoration partnership across the Pāmu farm network.
Under the agreement, the two organisations will work together to identify and restore suitable land into a native forest. Around 600 hectares of land across a range of Pāmu-owned properties will be progressed over three to five years. The work is expected to generate high-integrity nature-based carbon credits that meet the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s criteria, are independently verified, and can be sold to meet both international and domestic demand.
Today's MOU signing took place at a Trees That Count restoration site in the Wairarapa as the Government announced its support for the development of a voluntary nature credits market in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Why Pāmu and True Nature
Pāmu Nature Investment Officer Annabel Davies says Pāmu has already retired more than 16,000 hectares of land and has embedded sustainability targets into its operations and into its lending agreements with major New Zealand banks.
“The partnership with True Nature is a natural next step. It not only drives realisation of value but also supports more widespread activation over time,” Annabel Davies says.
True Nature is a not-for-profit organisation with deep roots in forest restoration through its connection to Trees That Count, one of New Zealand's most trusted and established native restoration organisations. Trees That Count has been operating for over a decade, and longer through its parent organisation Project Crimson - giving True Nature access to extensive planting and restoration expertise and landholder relationships.
“Pāmu has been actively looking at land use optimisation, and climate risk across the portfolio. Where vulnerable land exists and may be best suited to native restoration, this partnership will help unlock value.”
“We are excited about the prospect of working together to deliver real benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience, and to generate value that can help activate further investment in nature restoration for Aotearoa more broadly,” Annabel Davies revealed.
Robyn Haugh, Chief Executive of True Nature says: “Pāmu is exactly the kind of partner that makes this market work at scale.”
“One trusted relationship, access to land from Northland to Southland, and the data and land management infrastructure to do restoration well. This is what it looks like when farming and forest reforestation work together.”
Part of a growing nature credits movement
The partnership comes as the New Zealand Government moves to support a voluntary nature credits market. Ten pilot projects have been underway across the country, privately funded and designed to test how nature credit markets can work in the New Zealand context — including what role government should play in setting standards and building market confidence.
Pāmu has been participating in the Ministry for the Environment's pilot programme, along with True Nature through Trees That Count.
Pāmu has also nearly completed the design and testing of a domestic native carbon removal initiative that will be available to market buyers from mid-end 2026. Longer term this initiative is intended to deliver value realisation for landowners with covenants and existing retired or regenerating native areas.
What comes next
The MOU marks the beginning of a formal exploration phase. Over the coming months, Pāmu and True Nature will identify suitable sites, work through what restoration or afforestation looks like on different land types across the Pāmu portfolio with the intent of progressing to a long-term agreement to work together.
Both organisations have committed to moving quickly. The national scale of Pāmu and existing land and environmental data mean the groundwork for assessing sites is already in place.
