Feeding people and ecosystems

Matthew Priestley believes great things are possible when community, ecology, and food production work together.

That is why he is proud to support Te Hōnonga a Iwi as one of its contributing experts, sharing his skills, knowledge, and time to help develop the syntropic food forest at Rosedale Park. Funded by a grant from Sky City, the project focuses on a regenerative planting system inspired by natural forest succession.

Matthew was drawn to Te Hōnonga a Iwi because of its commitment to practical, on-the-ground action.

“It is not just talking about sustainability. It is about people coming together to restore land, grow food, and build community resilience.”

Matthew and Seth started Brotherwood together, building it into an arboriculture and ecological design business grounded in regenerative principles. There is clear alignment between his personal and professional values and those of Te Hōnonga a Iwi, particularly long-term land stewardship, biodiversity enhancement, and soil health.

A syntropic food forest puts these values into practice.

“Instead of planting isolated fruit trees, we design layered systems with groundcovers, shrubs, support species, fruit trees, and nitrogen fixers all working together.

“The goal is to build soil rapidly, increase biodiversity, capture carbon, and produce food at the same time. It is dynamic and managed through pruning and biomass cycling rather than relying on fertilisers or sprays.”

Matthew’s background is in Botany and Microbiology, and he is currently completing a Master of Environmental Management with a focus on soil systems.

He became increasingly drawn to regenerative methods through his work at Brotherwood, where he saw first-hand how approaches such as compost application, biochar integration, diverse planting, and mulch systems consistently delivered stronger and more resilient outcomes than conventional alternatives.

“Through both academic study and hands-on field work, I became convinced that soil biology is the foundation of everything, including tree health, food quality, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem resilience.”

Rosedale Park is an exciting site for this project because it benefits both the land and the wider community.

“It demonstrates that public green space can be productive while supporting ecological function, and shows how regenerative food systems can sit within public parks and shared community spaces.”

For Matthew, projects like this create visible examples of what is possible when community, ecology, and food production are integrated.

“If we want resilient communities in Aotearoa, we need landscapes that feed both people and ecosystems. That is what excites me about this work.”