Dr. Russ Ballard talked about the Peace, Remembrance, and Community Forests Trust
Dr. Russ Ballard has a CV of some weight, having been a scientist, senior public servant, and Chancellor of Massey University. He is also a member and past President of the Rotary Club of Wellington.
Last evening he came to talk to the club (and numerous visitors) about the Peace, Remembrance, and Community Forests Trust.
As part of its centenary celebrations, Wellington Rotary decided to start three projects, one of which was the planting of 200,000 trees, which would fit nicely with the government’s ‘billion trees’ employment and climate change initiative. This has since been given further impetus by the report of the Climate Change Commission.
To make it happen, the Peace, Remembrance and Community Forests Trust was formed and Dr. Ballard was appointed chair. The Ministry for Primary Industries gave a project-scoping grant of $70,000 and then a full grant of $1.4M which takes the project through to May 2022. This will enough to reach the target of 200,000 trees planted, and probably many more.
The Trust works with partner organisations throughout the country and has contracted Conservation Volunteers NZ to manage the various sub-projects.
Russ took us through some of the complexities of the project, including the contractual and financial issues. In-kind contributions must be at least 50% of total costs, under the agreement with MPI. It costs about $16 to plant a native tree, to which MPI contributes $6.80 and partners $7.00-9.00. Volunteer labour is assessed at $22 per hour.
Carbon Credits are payable to the Trust at $3.50 per hectare planted, per annum, and will be on-sold to provide funds for more plantings.
This project is a fine example of an initiative exploiting the various skills available within Rotary, with many clubs involved throughout the country. Our own Taupo Swamp/Plimmerton Domain planting and conservation project will contribute 10,000 trees to the total, assisted by the City Council who are providing the young trees at cost.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62% Summer
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36.5% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
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