Gumboots recommended for Waitangi planting

Steve Cave, HBRCs Open Spaces Manager, inspects recent plantings at Waitangi wetland after flooding. Photo / Supplied.

Gumboots will be the priority footwear this weekend for the Plant Thru Winter planting event with Napier Forest and Bird members at Waitangi Regional Park.

The recent floods and high seas have swept through the area by Awatoto and it is still soft underfoot.

About forty Forest and Bird members are expected to be digging in new plants to continue their enhancement of the wetland area.

Members of the public are welcome to join in the morning planting tomorrow, and can register on hbrc.govt.nz.

"Napier Forest and Bird members started planting around this wetland a few years ago and, as we are creating habitats for the next 30 to 50 years, it's great to see that wetland birds are already here," said Neil Eagles, President of Napier Forest and Bird.

"It's good to see people coming in to enjoy this part of the park."

The wetland is already a popular place for shags and royal spoonbills.
The aim on Saturday is to add 3600 more native shrubs and trees around the wetland edge and on the island now accessible by bridges.
Ngaio does particularly well in the site on the coast, with two year old plants now well established and providing cover.

"The soft conditions are OK for planting, although we've decided not to plant in the boggier areas, but gumboots will definitely need to be worn - and bring a thermos as it's chilly with the onshore breeze and our usual coffee cart can't be there this time," warned HBRC Open Spaces Development Officer Stevie Smidt.

Children from PORSE home educators have also been planting on the Waitangi wetland site this week, following twenty groups from primary schools who planted as part of Ātea A Rangi Educational Trust's Matariki event last week.

Warm clothes and hats, sturdy footwear and gardeners' gloves will help volunteer planters stay comfortable in this coastal site.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council will provide the usual barbecue sausages as a thank you for the planters' efforts

Details are on hbrc.govt.nz, search #getinvolved and on Hawke's Bay Regional Council's Facebook page.