The two special ti kouka trees, now in their temporary home at the Kauri Park Nursery.
Pic: BTG310521CAB2 Caption: The two special Tī Kōuka trees, now in their temporary home at the Kauri Park Nursery.
BTG310521LONNIE Caption: Lonnie Dalzell.
By Lonnie Dalzell
The landscaping team has been hard at work getting two farm properties close to the project area ready to receive around 255,000 native plants.
Planting at the Beagley Wharite and Massey Tuapaka farms is part of the project's ecological commitment to leave the environment better than we found it.
The native plants that will soon be planted out at these properties have been growing since last year at Kauri Park Nursery in Ashhurst and Rangitāne o Manawatū, using seed sourced and grown early in the project.
These plants make up the first tranche of what will eventually be close to two million plants that will be planted in the project area by the time the highway is complete. Planting at these sites is expected to run through to October 2021 and planning is under way for next year.
Seeing so many healthy plants lined up at the nursery is an impressive sight. And while planting out is the exciting part, a lot of hard graft has been happening over the last few months to get everything ready.
The landscaping team has been dealing to pest plants and animals, installing water reticulation and building fences to keep the working farms separate from stream and wetland planting sites.
As well as preparing for mass planting, the team has been working with project Kaitiaki to relocate two significant tī kōuka (Cordyline Australis, or 'cabbage trees') in the QEII forest. The trees, estimated to be up to 100 years old, are between 8-12m high and weigh 7-10 tonnes with the root ball.
They were standing in the path of the highway alignment and have been carefully uplifted and taken to a temporary home, Kauri Park Nursery, where they will be looked after for two years before being returned to the project area when highway landscaping is under way.
The intention is that when the time is right, they will be replanted back into the project area near to where they were originally located – facing the same way as they were before.
Tī kōuka hold special significance for Māori as a food and fibre source. They were also used medicinally, as landmarks for way finding and boundary marking, to mark cemeteries and the burial locations of whenua (placenta), and as an ara wairua (spiritual pathway).
These two trees could be seen from Ashhurst and while their particular histories are not known, project Kaitiaki have advised the trees are likely to have served an important purpose for iwi.
For the latest bird's eye view of the highway, check out the drone footage at nzta.govt.nz/projects/te-ahu-a-turanga/.
'The last two days have been pretty emotional. I’m just crushed by the whole experience.'