Eel sanctuary sign with wooden carvings at Awaawaroa Bay Eco-Village.

Awaawaroa Bay Eco-Village

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Ecological
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 1994

What we do

Awaawaroa Bay Eco-Village owns 169 hectares (420 acres). There is a large wetland and estuarine system and a number of large pockets of regenerating bush. The village established NZ’s first private sanctuary for the endemic long finned eel (tuna – a Maori word for the eel).
A large section of the bush is covenanted with Department of Conservation.
To protect the native wildlife there are no cats or dogs on the property.
Non toxic and energy-efficient building materials and methods are required. An internal building code is in place that is administered by a building committee. Most families use alternative power systems and there are a number of electric cars and bikes and biofuel vehicles on the property.
A communal tractor shed/barn has been built as well as a multi-purpose mud-brick community house and an accompanying abolution block which are used for meetings, celebrations and various group activities.
We aim for a chemical-free environment with all land-use practices to be organic. All land use is organic and several members practise Bio- dynamics. One land-base businesses operate from the community – a certified organic nursery ‘Gulf Trees’ which grows native fauna and another is in the process of being established.
Protecting and enhancing biodiversity in our ecosystems and natural habitats is a priority.

Our Mission

Our community is based on cooperation, honesty and consensus.
We have a willingness to balance individual needs with the greater good of the community, while also valuing people’s diversity.
Our community vision statement is as follows:
“We live in community, creating a safe, sustainable environment that encompasses and enhances wholesome relationships with each other and the land. We are a community who understands that our actions and behaviours influence the world of the future.”
To protect the native wildlife, there are no cats or dogs on the property.

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Community type
  • Ecovillage
  • Activities
  • Farming

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1994
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 1996
  • Started living together
  • 28 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
49

How to join

Process: New members can only be considered when a share available for sale. It begins with a letter outlining an expression of interest written to the community and is followed by a three months investigation period undertaken by both the community and those expressing an interest in the share. At the end of this time the community votes on the suitability of the applicant.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Visitors need to email and find out if someone is willing to host them, and they will be required to do some work in exchange for hospitality. Several families are registered with the NZ Woofing organisation. We host open days once a year and community events/working bees that they may also be welcome to attend.

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Decision-making process

  • Full Consensus

Everyone must agree before moving forward.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a one-time fee, investment, or share purchase to join the community separate from accessing housing
  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Join fee: Yes
Regular fees: $220
Labor: Yes (2 hrs/week)
Members and residents are expected contribute to a monthly working bee which is for one day on the 3rd Sunday of every month.

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Swingsets & play areas, Waterfront access

Frequency of communal meals

  • 1-3 times per month

Dietary restriction

  • People can cook and eat what they want in their own residence

Community activities and engagement

  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Family-focused (many children and parents)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Land Trust, Home Owners Association, or corporation

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Ecovillage

    Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.

Self-produced energy

  • 33 - 66%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • 33 - 66%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%
  • Land area size
    417.6 acres

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Auckland, New Zealand

Awaawaroa Bay Eco-Village

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
Need
Need
  • Communities with Openings
4 weeks ago

Heart-centered, nature-loving unschooling family seeking a community to land with for winter 2027

We’re a German-American family who left conventional life about four years ago to live in line with our values: freedom, connection, nature, and spirituality. We started out as worldschoolers, moving every month or two. That taught us a lot, including that too much movement leaves a family rootless. Since then we’ve been looking for the balance between adventure and belonging. We found a taste of it on a multigenerational farm community in Austria, and we’re now living alongside a small community in Norway. For January to March 2027, we’d love to spend a season inside a community that feels like home. What we’re hoping for A community with teenagers and a culture that welcomes self-directed learning, where unschooling is understood and not just tolerated Nature at your doorstep (forest, land, animals, or garden) Some shared meals, perhaps shared rhythms, and real relationships, not just a place to park A spiritual or reflective thread, whatever form it takes for you An opportunity to get to know your community by giving back (although we can’t do a ‘full’ volunteering program as we have the past three years – ie: Workaway- because we have meetings online that take up too much of our time to volunteer full time)  What we bring Resilience and emotional wellbeing. I’m an online resilience coach with a BA in Developmental Psychology, certified in HeartMath®, and an experienced yoga and meditation teacher. I can offer community sessions in nervous system regulation, stress resilience, and meditation, and support for parents and teens. Experience raising three children in a nomadic, family-centered lifestyle, including years of travel across Europe. Open, adaptable, and grounded. We’ve lived in many settings and adapt quickly. We show up as contributors, not consumers. Unschooling and homeschooling know-how. We’re glad to share what we’ve learned, especially for families navigating legal and practical questions in Europe. Many other shareable skills: carpentry, sourdough bread baking, food fermenting, music making, dad-joke-telling, drone pilots, cookie bakers, food preservation and much much more.   We’re looking for a mutual fit, not just a bed for the winter. If our story resonates and you have space or know someone who does, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your community: your values, your daily rhythm, and what you’re hoping for from the people who join you.
Need
  • Forming Communities
2 weeks ago

Forest Community Starting

Description: Willits, CA, Pacific Northwest rainforest system. Forest Haven is seeking forest lovers who value solitude. We have several areas in the main compound and a few tucked away in private. Space is designed for your RV / Tiny Home / +++. We will add power and water for each new Steward’s space. Land: 40 acres(17 hectares), 3ac for humans. Year-round creek at base of parcel. Heavy trees, 40 meter-ish high. Conifer mix. With a large south-facing common garden.   New forest stewards have agreed to prioritize tree health. This means each person here will have a say in whether we cut any single tree. We never cut for wood or sale.  Stewards agree to walk the forest daily as our one required 20-minute group activity.    Limit the number of dwellings to 3-5 Total. There are 8 common buildings, with 3 having flush toilets and one with a hot shower, washer and dryer. We are 100% off-grid.  We have a natural spring and solar. The full-size common kitchen is large enough to process the garden harvest and more. Remote workers and retirees’ welcome. Full online and cell service available.    Forest Haven is currently a private forest reserve.   If 2 households sign on, it will become a 501(c)(3). Each person’s “donation/rent” will be tax-deductible. This is a private forest reserve going public as a nonprofit.    Please inquire if you want to help in a small way using basic permaculture methods to improve our forest’s health, message me to learn more.

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