Volunteer Team Tackles Te Onetea
Despite the wet and windy weather we had last week, a team of 57 volunteers came out to plant one of our project sites on Friday. As a reward for their enthusiasm, the rain stayed away and the clouds made room for a beautiful, sunny day!
Around 30 students, parents and teachers from Kimihia Primary School and Te Kura o Rangiriri joined us at the WRA funded Te Onetea Stream project, while volunteers from Spark and long-time Waikato RiverCare Inc. sponsors, Watercare Services, made up the rest of the crew.
The kids from Kimihia Primary were the first on site and set a brisk pace for everyone else with help from Te Whangai Trust staff who dug holes for the kids to plant trees in. As the rest of the crew joined in, the Department of Conservation’s marginal strip reserve was a hive of activity with 4,000 natives having been planted by the end of the day.
Once planting has been completed at the site by Te Whangai Trust, Waikato RiverCare Inc. will begin the next phase of the project – site maintenance. The project will receive its first post-planting weed spray in November, with regular sprays forecasted for the next three years.
Thank you to the Waikato River Authority, Te Whangai Trust, Watercare Services, Spark, Kimihia School and Te Kura o Rangiriri for helping us to do our part in improving the health and well-being of te awa and its catchments.
