Tauranga mayor branches out for treemendous cause

Mayor Greg Brownless with Treemendous supporters Effie Wragg, Owen Woods, Reuben Woods, Finn Wragg, Alec VB Newington, Emma Woods, Geoff Canham, Emma Wragg and Duncan Newington. Photo/supplied

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless branched out into community planting yesterday.

The mayor lent a hand to the Treemendous Tree Plant event scheduled for next weekend, donating a pohutukawa tree at the Envirohub, which is organising the event.

Organisers hope the tree will be among up to 6000 native trees to be planted over six hours on Saturday May 19.

People have the option to either buy a tree themselves for $11.50; collect it, and plant it; or buy it and have a volunteer plant it for them.

Volunteer project manager Duncan Newington said the trees would be planted around Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty in public areas designated for community plantings.

He said the exact locations would be confirmed early next week.

The trees were certified myrtle rust free and all locally sourced, he said. That meant they had been grown from seeds collected in the Tauranga region, to avoid accidentally bringing new diseases into the area.

He said 6000 trees was an "ambitious goal" but hoped the community would get on board and help make Tauranga greener.

Brownless said he was happy to help the cause and that trees were an essential part of Tauranga's ecosystem.

"I thought it was a nice thing to do for Mother's Day."