Native trees planted in the name of TRENZ delegates

Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button. Photo / File

More than 600 native trees have been planted to represent each delegate from TRENZ 2019 to commemoriate their attendance.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa, who manages and produces TRENZ on behalf of the Tourism Industry New Zealand Trust, has partnered with Trees That Count, a national campaign that aims to bring together businesses and everyday Kiwis to help plant 200 million native trees.

As more than 600 TRENZ delegates set off for their activity afternoon earlier today to sample the local tourism offerings, they were moved to discover a note in their picnic lunches explaining that a native tree has been planted for each of them.

"Funding native trees is a great way for visitors and the tourism industry to give back to our environment and benefit from the results," Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said.

"This year's TRENZ has been coined as the most environmentally sustainable one yet," Roberts said.

Trees That Count chief executive Adele Fitzpatrick said that Rotorua's breathtaking forests and native trees in city areas were part of the New Zealand tourism experience.

The organisation was also working with the Department of Conservation and Rotorua Canopy Tours to arrange pest trapping with TRENZ delegates on Monday.

The results of this week's trapping efforts had come in, with close to 100 pests already trapped.

Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button said TRENZ had had a fantastic conservation and sustainability focus this year, and it was great to see delegates helping to make a difference.