Planting to stabilise sand at coastal Koitiata

After digging about 2000 small plants into sand dunes the pupils of South Makirikiri School were treated to a "beautiful" homemade lunch at Koitiata on Wednesday.

The Arbour week planting was organised by Rangitikei District Council parks and reserves team leader Athol Sanson. Its purpose was to stop sand being blown off Turakina Beach and into the settlement's playground, streets and houses.

The council has put aside $10,000 to stabilise the sand, which can move quickly in that windswept environment. To slow it down sand fences were erected and mulch laid down last year.

Also last year, residents collected the seeds of nearby native sand-binding plants. They were grown on in a nursery and about 2000 small plants were ready to be dug into the loose sand this year.

They included spinifex and pingao, rushes and a native convolvulus species.

It was "the easiest planting ever", Mr Sanson said. The 15 children and 10 residents who pitched in needed only hand trowels.

All the plants were in the ground in two hours, and the children had a bit of time to try out the playground before lunch was provided by the community in the coastal Rangitikei settlement's hall.

The pikelets, cakes and hot soup went down well, Mr Sanson said.

He's hoping for 60 per cent survival of the small plants in that harsh environment. They will be sprayed with rabbit repellent, and fertilised in spring.

More will be needed to keep the sand in place, and he said it would take a combination of measures to get it right.

The fences will be maintained, more mulch and baleage may be spread and another 1000 plants may go in next year.

What's been done so far is already slowing the movement of sand.

"In three to five years I'm hoping we will see it revegetated back to where it was," Mr Sanson said.