The location of our latest revegetation project. Started in June 2024

We are undertaking  a five year project here. We started the project with a one off, 5,000 tussocks planting then a further session of 500 trees and shrubs the first year. We will be planting 1,000 trees and shrubs for the final three years. The goal is to restore the grey shrublands to an area that lost them hundreds of years ago. In future it will become (we hope) ground zero for the natural expansion of our flora at this site by creating a vibrant and healthy plant community which becomes a great seed source for the surrounding, less protected parts of the reserve area. In the short term, it boosts the food and shelter available to support a greater number or range of lizards, birds and insects some of which rely solely on these species for their survival. 

At this point in time we have planted 5,559 plants, made up of 29 species, 13 of which are on the NZTCS list as ‘Threatened‘ or ‘At Risk’. We will be monitoring this planting annually to see how the plants survive in this very exposed site.

This planting is intended to (for the most part) be irrigated.  There are however nook and crannies where it is not feasible to get water too. These plants will be considered a 'dryland' planting. In most locations across the country this would be fine but with Central's climate we need to accept there will be failures.  This site is pretty tough, exposed to southerly blasts, full sun and soil that has been depleted by decades of pine tree cover. To mitigate this, we have been working hard to assess the right species for the site. There is a lack of information in this area so by trialling a large number of different plant species and regular monitoring of all our plantings we are gaining some good insights.

Finally, we would like to thank all the people and groups that have joined us in our revegetation efforts. There are hundreds of hours that have gone into this project already. From the eco sourcing of the seed to the volunteers propagating them every week at our nursery, site preparation, administration, the maintenance and of course, the glory job of planting. 

CODC and Contact Energy have funded the plants. Mike Samuels assisted with the initial ground prep, Dunstan High school students have helped with monitoring, labelling, weeding and mulching and Delta have helped with site maintenance. Ngā mihi nui.