Volunteers help plant 800 native trees in Whangārei wetland

Volunteers ready to plant 800 trees near wetlands at the Otaika Sports Ground just south of Whangārei city last Saturday. Photos / Yuan Zhang

A wetland just south of Whangārei city has been further enhanced with the planting of 800 native trees.

On Saturday about 50 volunteers donned gumboots and jackets, picked up a spade and headed to the Otaika Sports Ground for the planting.

It was the second lot of 800 trees planted at the wetlands as part of the Honda TreeFund.

The first batch was planted last year, during the Covid lockdowns, without volunteers attending, Adele Van Velden, of Honda Store Whangārei, said.

The trees were provided by Trees that Count and Van Velden said it was great to have volunteers there to plant the trees this year. In 2019, the Honda TreeFund planted 800 trees along the Hātea River catchment.

Van Velden said the initiative was run by Honda nationally, and the trees were bought from Trees That Count, which has a vision of helping plant 200 million native trees throughout New Zealand.

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Experts from Northland Regional Council attended the event on Saturday and gave instruction on where and how to plant the trees.

All participants were happy and honoured to be part of this event to contribute to our community, Van Velden said.

Poles are put beside each new tree planted so it's progress can be easily checked on.

She said while at the wetlands they checked the trees planted last year, and they were doing well. Small poles are placed beside each tree planted so its progress can be easily checked, she said.

Van Velden said about 30 adults and many children turned up on Saturday to help with the planting, and she was grateful to them all for their efforts.

Since starting in 2004, the Honda TreeFund has funded the planting of more than 700,000 trees throughout New Zealand.