Schools growing trees for survival

The shade houses installed at Tolaga Bay Area School. Picture supplied

Four schools in Tairāwhiti will benefit from the Trees for Survival Programme, a Rotary initiative that encourages and inspires young people to grow, nurture and plant native trees.

Awapuni School, Patutahi School, Tolaga Bay Area School and Ngatapa School have joined the ranks of 200 schools across New Zealand participating in the programme.  There is no cost to schools to join and resources are all provided by the trust. This includes shade houses, potting mix, eco-sourced seedlings and planter bags.

Mark Adamson from Trees for Survival travelled from Auckland to set up the shade houses in  Tairāwhiti.

“The schools have been so enthusiastic,” he said.

“The programme has experienced a huge growth and demand, but we have limited funding to meet that demand,” said Mark.

Te Pukenga EIT Gisborne’s Marie Rogers, Allan Rogers of Awapuni School and Warwick Callender of Rotary Gisborne were all hands on deck building the shade houses, organising and delivering supplies in preparation for Mark’s visit.

“They really helped to fill the gap,” said Mark.

Each school is set up with a purpose-built irrigated shade house.  One thousand native seedlings are handed out to be potted up in planting bags.  The seedlings are nurtured and grown in the shade house for a year.  Those plants are then transferred and planted on to private or public land, often along a waterway or retired pasture.  Sites are assessed for suitability and monitored for two years.  A facilitator is assigned by Trees for Survival to work with the schools and landowners.

Trees for Survival marketing manager Kathryn Bourne said the vision was to develop an enduring respect in school children for the environment.

“Community support and involvement is essential for the programme to continue.  National, local corporate partners and landowners are also invited to participate in the process, enjoying the comradeship and excitement of annual planting days.   Landowners are reaping the benefits of protected waterways and slopes and increased biodiversity on their property,” she said.

“Enthusiastic and suportive landowners and community are an important aspect of the success of the programme.”

One landowner involved in the programme said it was really heartwarming to see people of such a young age being taught to appreciate and respect our environment.

“The effort the children put into growing and caring for the beautiful, healthy natives that we planted is impressive.  The staff and parents did a wonderful job supporting and guiding the children and planting lots of native plants too.  It was great spending time in nature with them all.”   Anyone interested in contacting Trees for Survival can email info@tfsnz@org.nz