Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Ivory Tarrant, 2, helped to plant native trees to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and Conservation Week at Bluff.
In a milestone effort 7500 native trees were planted on Bluff hill on Saturday.
When the Bluff Hill Motupōhue Trust was formed back in 2008, the hill was covered in gorse.
The trust has worked tirelessly to eradicate pests and replant native bush since, and on Saturday it created a milestone when replanting a 20-metre buffer between the township and the hill.
Trust project leader David Swann said the area was cleared of gorse, estimated to be about 30 years old, by the Invercargill City Council.
The planting project had been part of the trust’s Conservation Week efforts, and Saturday was planned to be a community mass-planting day in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee.
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The death of Queen Elizabeth II in the early hours of Friday morning had turned the day into a “bit of a memorial planting event”, he said.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Brid Conlon helped to plant native trees to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and Conservation Week at Bluff on Saturday.
The week’s planned projects had taken a hit with snow on Monday and torrential rain on Wednesday, but the community had rallied in sunny weather on Saturday to get the job done, he said.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
Te Rūnaka O Awarua Kaiwhakahaere Dean Whaanga, left, Dr Liz Craig and Bluff Hill Motupōhue Environment Trust chairperson Estelle Pera-Leask and project leader David Swann, far right, during planting efforts at Bluff Hill.
Swann in particular wanted to call out Te Rūnaka O Awarua Kaiwhakahaere Dean Whaanga, Invercargill Labour List MP Dr Liz Craig and Bluff local and Invercargill City mayoral candidate Marcus Lush for going “above and beyond” with planting efforts.
“They were there all day from start to finish … everybody just absolutely worked like crazy … it’s amazing what a group of people can do … I went around asking volunteers and I think they did about 150 each.”
Half of the plants were grown from iwi-led nursery Te Tapu o Tāne, he said, with the other half provided by the Invercargill City Council.
By replanting the fringe around the town, the trust was also hoping to highlight the habitat restoration work they were doing across the hill in anticipation of re-establishing Kiwis on Bluff Hill by 2028.
“That’s why it was important to plant the urban fringe … if we want Kiwi’s back by 2028, we’re going to need every ounce of support,” he said.
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