Native Planting at Hikurangi Primary School
What an awesome day spent with Hikurangi Primary School on Wednesday 3rd July. We met some amazing kids and a very supportive and encouraging staff who allowed us to help plant almost 1000 native trees alongside the students at their school.
The casket company we use - Return to Sender, has been donating a tree for each casket sold since 2007 and as of June 2019, they have donated a total of 12,596 trees. A couple of years ago, they realised anyone could plant a tree - but wondered what did that actually achieve? Nothing if it isn’t educating the future caretakers of our land. In 2017, Return to Sender officially partnered with 'Trees for Survival'.
Trees for Survival is a charitable trust that delivers an educational environmental programme in schools. It sees students growing and planting native trees to restore natural habitats by helping landowners revegetate erosion-prone land, improve stream flow and water quality and increase biodiversity.
Once a month, Return to Sender donates money towards the cost of native plants to the Trees for Survival on behalf of the families who have chosen a Return to Sender casket. One casket = 1 tree donation.
The students involved in the TFS environmental education programme, receive locally sourced seedlings at the beginning of every year, nurturing them until ready for planting. Planting days consist of many different native plants; including Mānuka, kānuka, flax and tī kōuka (cabbage tree) that are suitable for the area that they will be planted.
Return to Sender supports schools in Whangarei, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Wellington. The Funeral Homes that provide the caskets are then invited to volunteer with Return to Sender, on planting days within their local areas.
Tī kōuka / cabbage tree: These are good colonising species, growing happily on bare ground or exposed places. Their strong root system helps stop soil erosion on steep slopes and because they tolerate wet soil, they are a useful species for planting along stream banks. The trees were also planted to mark trails, boundaries, urupā (cemeteries) and births, since they are generally long-lived
Mānuka & kānuka: These plants can act as an important tool for re-vegetating bare, eroded slopes. By creating shade and shelter from the wind, they provide an excellent nursery for other, slower growing native plants. Unlike many other native plants, mānuka/kahikātoa and kānuka are not usually eaten by browsing animals like sheep, cattle and goats. This is another reason that these plants are useful in restoration projects.
Harakeke/flax: These bushes will often support a large community of animals, providing shelter and an abundant food resource. Harakeke attracts native birds such as Tui, Bellbirds/ Korimako, Saddlebacks/Tīeke, short tailed bats/Pekapeka, geckos and several types of insects that enjoy nectar from its flower.
Again, we are blown away by how wonderful the staff and students were. Well done guys! Keep up the hard work!
Poll: Has your Kiwisaver taken a dip?
With the US tariffs ramping up and the stock market taking a hit, many are noticing a change in their Kiwisaver amounts.
If you've had a peek at your Kiwisaver balance since, have you seen it decrease?
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85.2% Yes, it's decreased
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12% Nope
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2.8% Other - I'll share below
Weather & updates in Northland
What you need to know:
- Flights cancelled in and out of Kerikeri and Whangārei
- Cell towers damaged: Northland police say it has been notified of infrastructure damage caused to a number of transmission towers overnight. The affected areas include: Tikitikioure, Taupo Bay, Domain Road, Karikari Central, Mangonui, Waimauku, Matapouri, Huruiki and Helena Bay. Landlines are still operating.
- A tree has come down on Johnston Road in Kawakawa, showing the level of damage being caused by the high winds and heavy rain across the region.
- Northland's Kaeo River has reached its SH10 flooding level this morning.
- Maritime NZ says the forecast winds in the upper North Island are the strongest since 2017. The most powerful gust of Wednesday - 130kph - was recorded in Cape Reinga at 6pm.
- There are no current road closures reported. Crews will work to clear any fallen trees as quickly as possible, but do allow for delays. If you come across any local roading issues or storm related damage on public property, please report it through to your local council:
Whangarei District Council: www.wdc.govt.nz...
Kaipara District Council: www.kaipara.govt.nz...
Far North District Council: www.fndc.govt.nz...
- There are numerous power outages around the region, with potentially over 24000 customers without power this morning. Northpower and Top Energy NZ crews will be out today working to resolve these issues as soon as they can, but this may take some time.
Check the latest outages at Northpower or Top Energy NZ
You can keep up with live updates on Stuff.
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