The Mataia Homestead was built in 1891 to house the generations of Gardner family that have managed the 1300 hectare family farm over the years.
Apart from a brief fifteen year period, the land has remained in the Gardner family for 150 years.
One of the unique aspects of Mataia is the fact that it combines a working sheep and beef farm with a large-scale private conservation project.
400 hectares of the 1300 hectare farm is part of a conservation project that started in 2005. Made up largely of coastal native forest margin and salt marsh wetland, the area boasts rare populations of Fernbird and Banded Rail and is host to a large number of other native bird species. The Saltmarsh area at Mataia is a significant roosting ground for arctic waders including Godwits and Lesser knots as well as local migrants including Pied Oystercatchers, Pied Stilts, Banded Dotteral and Caspian Terns.
There is also evidence of pre European occupation of Mataia. These include several well defined pa sites and numerous midden throughout the conservation area.
With funding from the Department of Conservation Biodiversity Fund, the Auckland Regional Council Environmental Initiatives Fund and the Rodney District Council Heritage fund, the restoration of this area is a long-term project aimed to restore and enhance the considerable ecological values of the area. A conservation management plan was drawn up in 2008 by Natural Logic Ltd. Restoration of the small tract of bush adjacent to the homestead has seen around 1500 native trees planted, and a monitored pest control program started. A large scale pest control program saw over 600 possums eradicated from the entire farm in late 2007. The ongoing restoration project also targets Stoats, Rats and feral cats to help to protect and increase the local native wildlife.
A riparian planting plan has been established to protect the riparian margins of the Mataia creek which starts at the Glorit Hall and runs down past the Mataia Homestead and out to the Kaipara Harbour. The Trees for Survival program has formed a partnership between Mataia Restoration project and Meadowbank School in Auckland whereby the school children raise seedlings which they then plant out on the farm in the conservation areas.
