Hotel staff give lift to Hamurana track

Restoration of the Hamurana Springs track has received a helping hand from the Accor New Zealand hotel group.

As part of Accor's launch of Planet 21 in New Zealand more than 10 staff from the Novotel and Ibis gathered to plant 20 large native trees and flaxes to help restore the natural biodiversity along the Hamurana Springs track.

Planet 21 is Accor's new worldwide sustainable development programme.

The hotel team partnered with the Rotorua District Council, which manages the reserve, to ensure suitable areas where chosen to be cleaned up and regenerated to help return Hamurana Springs to its former glory.

Accor New Zealand hotels and offices planted more than 3200 trees across the country in April and more than 35,000 in the Asia Pacific region. Since 2008 well over two million trees have been planted worldwide.

Hamurana is famous for its beautiful scenic views and abundance of wildlife including black teal, scaup, herons and the endangered dabchick.

Through Planet 21, Accor's Rotorua hotels was committed to maintaining local biodiversity in areas such as Hamurana Springs for visitors and future generations to enjoy, said Evan Lewis, Accor Asia-Pacific communications vice president.

"Planet 21 is about inviting our employees and guests to join us on our sustainability journey as it is about installing eco-friendly technologies in our hotels.

"The launch of the programme was an opportunity to galvanise our teams and engage our guests around the issue of reforestation, which has long been a priority for the group."