PROJECTS

Each year, we identify and undertake habitat restoration projects and grow a volunteer network which fosters a healthy community spirit. We work with local groups, schools, and businesses to support communities in looking after healthy lands and waterways, to create a stronger link between the environment and people. These planting projects create islands of new native bush and enrich existing areas to provide precious habitat for our local wildlife.

Since our inception, we have:

Supplied over 38,000 plants to 25 restoration projects
Held over 1400 nursery sessions
Organised over 180 official planting days
Arranged for countless maintenance and watering days
Liaised with local schools, encouraging student awareness and participation through visits to the nursery, school science and planting projects

PROJECT SITES

As well as propagating plants for our own projects, Te Kākano also provides eco-sourced plants for projects run by other local community and not-for-profit organisations.

We are happy to work with groups to discuss how we can best help them achieve their re-vegetation goals and may also consider being joint partners .

If you are interested in sourcing plants from us, please email us.

MONITORING

Some of our plants are tagged so we can monitor growth at certain sites. These tags are important, so when you are walking, watering, weeding or planting:

- if you find a tag that is not on a plant, please record where it is, the tag number and advise us.

- if you find a dead or poorly performing plant that is tagged then leave the plant and tag in place, record where it is, the tag number and advise us.

We wish to thank Chris Kielgaard, Helen Clarke and Martin Unwin, for designing and implementing the monitoring system for us. We appreciate the time they have given us, and recognise we are fortunate to benefit from their hard work.

They have chosen one wet, one dry and one intermediate site for “intensive monitoring”. At each of these sites 100 – 150 plants are tagged and at 1,2 and 5 years from planting, the trunk radius, height, wellness and mulching are measured and recorded.

Other sites have been selected for “standard monitoring”. At these we record the number and species planted, and take photos at specific photo-points. At years 1 and 2 we recount the plants and take further photos.

The monitoring enables us to formalise what we know and have evidence to support our knowledge, and meet our recording obligations to funders. It also gives new funders confidence in us.

PROJECT SPONSORS

Thanks to the wonderful support of our project sponsors, more than 40,000 plants have gone out to various project sites in and around Wānaka. Our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of them!

Families of Neville Harris & Jennifer Cooper

Errol Plowman