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The biggest community planting of the season got underway at Shakespear Open Sanctuary on Sunday, June 21.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, volunteers had to pre-book spots at the planting, which were limited to 200 people. The planting was fully booked and there were also a number of ‘walk-ins’ on the day, with people seeming especially happy to be outside working alongside others.
Among those who pre-booked were three Chinese conservation groups, and their arrival at the planting spot considerably swelled the numbers. These large groups arrived by bus from the North Shore and Albany.
A total of 6000 native plants, including cabbage trees, kowhai and manuka were available for planting.
The next planting, on July 19, is already fully booked. A third planting will be held on July 26, if there are any plants left to go in.
A planting day on the banks of the Weiti River, held the same weekend as the Shakespear Open Sanctuary’s community planting, was disappointing in terms of the small number of volunteer planters.
Just 15 volunteers made a massive effort, getting 1300 plants into the ground on Saturday, June 20.
Planting natives along the Weiti riverbank has been underway for several years and aims to improve the river environment as well as attracting native birds and other wildlife.
