One tree sapling at a time

Today’s success story comes from our very own project coordinator, Bengu.

“When I first decided to plant trees around the area I live, I realized it was a bigger task than I had thought. The area was full of gorse which an invasive bush registered as a pest in New Zealand. It was brought to New Zealand as a hedge plant, and soon became one of our biggest pests. Gorse spreads rapidly taking over the available area and not leaving any space for native shrubs which provide food for the birds. The planting process started last Autumn with lots of cleaning up taking place. Once there was enough space, the tree saplings were brought in.

I would like to highlight the importance of native flora and fauna. Every tree is important. However, we must regenerate native forests as they are more resilient. Futhermore, they provide the best conditions for native species to thrive as they have co-evolved”.

One hundred and fourty-nine native trees were planted since last Autumn. Bengu has reported that there were more trees planted but due to a long dry summer season, some did not make it. She shares “many of these trees came from friends. It became a hobby of mine to collect seedlings everywhere I visited and when appropriate. Most people I know live in the countryside so they often have a corner flourishing with native trees”.

To protect the young trees from wondering wildlife (small trees get plugged by wild boars and rabbits), recycled blue plastic covers have been used.

Bengu finalizes, “These plantings were made possible by the coming together of a lot of different people. A special thank you to Peter for digging holes and clearing gorse (it is quite a painful job). Thank you to all our friends who donated seedlings and to Kaya, the cat, for being an incredible helper in the garden”.