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Slip Gully near Anchor Bay, at Tawharanui Regional Park, will again be the focus of the annual winter planting days, which start on Sunday, June 2.
Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society (Tossi) deputy chair Roger Grove says the group hopes to plant 15,000 trees over three weekends, between June and August.
“It is always interesting to see who turns up,” he says. “Sometimes it can be a very international mix of visitors and locals, and last year we had two corporate teams from Ecoware and Design Worth.
“On the third planting day last year we had 220 volunteers, which was a record.”
The days are designed with families in mind and there are always plenty of jobs to go around, from digging the holes to stomping the dirt in place and collecting discarded tree bags.
“The effort put in by volunteers is really appreciated, so it’s funny when they come up to us afterwards and thank us. There’s a growing recognition that we all have to get involved in creating a good environment, so I think people appreciate the opportunity to do something practical and positive.”
The trees – mostly kanuka and manuka – will be laid out on the hillside a few days prior to the planting day and Tossi would appreciate volunteers on Friday May 31 to help with this task. The work will start at 9am.
On Sunday June 2, volunteers should bring strong boots/shoes, gloves, drinks and a raincoat. Planting starts at 9am and, as usual, a barbecue lunch will be provided.
Info: tossi.org.nz
