Kakabeak conservation planted in school

A Napier school is the newest home for seedlings of recently discovered and extremely rare native plants.

Tutira School in conjunction with Rayonier Matariki Forests created a kakabeak nursery on the school grounds as part of the Project Crimson Treemendous School Makeover won by the school.

Local staff from the forestry company helped students plant almost two dozen kakabeak plants with origins in the surrounding areas last weekend.

The plants were grown by Plant Hawke's Bay from cuttings of recent local discoveries of the endangered kakabeak, and will not only boost the plant population but also provide further genetic material to reintroduce into the wild.

Rayonier Matariki Forests harvest planning manager Andy Fleming said it was great to see new generations taking an interest in their ongoing survival.

"The kakabeak is such an important plant to the Napier and Hawke's Bay region," he said. "It once grew here in abundance and currently occurs naturally only from northern Hawke's Bay to East Cape.

"So for the children of Tutira School to have an opportunity to not only care for their own kakabeak plants, but to also aid in the repopulation of the species in the region is really special."

He said it was a great story to show how local communities could be a part of generation after generation of new growth.

More than 100 students, teachers and wider Tutira community members helped convert a former out-of-bounds area into a native planting area.

As well as the kakabeak nursery, the makeover included a chicken coop and an edible plants garden for fruit and vegetables.