Queen Elizabeth II National Trust is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 

A Royal Namesake
Our connection to Her Majesty goes back to 1977, the year our organisation was formed and the year of Her Majesty the Queen’s silver jubilee. To commemorate the anniversary, the Trust was named in her honour with both the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust Act and our organisation bearing Her Majesty’s name.  

The Trust was delighted to host Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip during their visit in 1986 at Taupō Swamp, a 30-hectare flax swamp protected by a QEII covenant, 20 km north of Wellington between Plimmerton and Pukerua Bay. Taupō Swamp was the first major wetland to be protected in the Wellington region and the visit allowed Her Majesty to see the Trust’s work first-hand.

The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy
In 2015, QEII National Trust was endorsed to deliver New Zealand’s contribution to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign and leadership of the Commonwealth.

During our three-year involvement with the programme, we established 44 Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy covenants across Aotearoa/New Zealand protecting 2,831 ha of native forest on private land. Together they are a hugely important contribution to the protection of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity.

The programme celebrated a special class of open space covenants, including the Carol Whaley Native Bush in Auckland where we hosted The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018 to dedicate 17 hectares of native forest to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy. 

We are grateful for the support given to our work by Her Majesty and we will continue to operate as her namesake for the foreseeable future.