New Plants in the Ground!

This planting season Waikato RiverCare planted 38,675 plants across eleven projects.  This year’s project planting got off to an excellent start with river and ground water levels significantly lower than at the same time last year. Big thanks to this year’s plant suppliers Kauri Park Nurseries and our lead planting contractors Native Awa Limited on a job well done over the last six weeks. Our plant suppliers Kauri Park did a great job working around weather and tight delivery timeframes to get plants on projects when our planting contractors, Native Awa, needed them.  Native Awa did a fantastic job getting plants from delivery drop points onto planting zones with their specialist ATV equipment and plant layout (species appropriate spacing).

Our public planting event at the Te Onetea Stream Extension project was a success. It was a day full of learning opportunities for the students and for some to see how well the plants are doing from the first stage of the Te Onetea Stream project that they planted.  A massive thank you to all those that donated to the Te Onetea Million Metres programme, our fantastic planting volunteers last week who did such a great job in getting 2,203 plants in the ground in just over three hours.  

Waikato RiverCare completed our first marae planting at Tūrangawaewae marae for our project partners Waikato Tainui and Place Group, a big thanks to marae committee, marae residents and the team at In-form Landscaping Ltd for their assistance in delivering this project.

Successful planting at Waikato RiverCare’s biggest ever project involving stock exclusion, forest remnant restoration, wetland creation and habitat planting for waterfowl plus block planting of retired hill country. The 12ha project on the Black farm received its first planting of 18,740 plants and was funded by WCEET with significant landowner co-funding.

Lots of infill planting completed at some of our well established projects including Lake Ohinewai, Opuatia Wetland, Hopuhopu project, Taupiri Ki Waenganui, Te Awa and Huntly Waterworks. Waikato RiverCare is very fortunate to have funders and supporters that recognise the value of sustained post planting works and the added value projects receive with enrichment or in-fill planting, particular the Waikato River Authority, WCEET, Genesis Energy, Waikato Regional Council and all our valued landowners and administrators.

 A section of Te Onetea Extension prior to weed control

Te Onetea Extension post weed control and digger works

Volunteers getting plants in the ground