The latest planting alongside the river at Taradale. Another 12,000 natives will be planted close by this month. Photo / Warren Buckland
The latest planting alongside the river at Taradale. Another 12,000 natives will be planted close by this month. Photo / Warren Buckland
Native plants have been “a bit harder” to source this year following Cyclone Gabrielle, but that has not stopped tens of thousands of native species being planted around Hawke’s Bay including another 12,000 planned for Taradale next week.
Nurseries such as Plant Hawke’s Bay in Waiohiki were badly flooded in February which wiped out a large number of native crops.
However, planting projects have continued to push ahead post-cyclone to help with erosion and even flood protection.
That includes one contractor planting about 120,000 natives this year alone between Waimārama and Waipukurau, while Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) has been involved in over 268,000 plantings of mainly native species in the past 12 months.
Another large project will begin late next week in Taradale involving 12,000 natives being planted alongside the Tūtaekurī River, between Guppy Rd and Pettigrew Arena, including a “good mix” of species.
Workforce Development tutor Chris Fletcher with students Jesse Wright (middle) and Riley Ramsay, fixing up planter boxes last week in Taradale. Photo / Warren Buckland
That project is on top of 3500 plants that were recently planted in that area by Waiohiki Marae and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC).
HBRC regional projects manager Jon Kingsford said the planting of natives alongside the river at Taradale - which was hit by the February floods - has plenty of benefits and was supported by the Resilient River Communities Project.
“The purpose of the planting is to enhance the level of stopbank protection while offering additional cultural, biodiversity and recreational outcomes,” he said.
“It is great to see the berm [alongside the river] is coming back to life and the public is already making the most of it.”
HBRC chair Hinewai Ormsby said it was “an amazing effort” to see all the planting happening around the region in partnership with community groups, landowners and iwi.
Habitat BPM Group has been contracted to plant the next installation of 12,000 natives alongside the river at Taradale, beginning late next week. Chief executive Colin Pirie said they have now planted 120,000 natives across Hawke’s Bay this year alone.
Native trees and shrubs are being planted across the region. Photo / Warren Buckland
Pirie said it had been “a bit harder” to source native plants this year following the cyclone, but all the plants for the upcoming Taradale project had been sourced by local nurseries, including from Plant Hawke’s Bay which was impacted by the floods.
Plant Hawke’s Bay, in Waiohiki, managing director Marie Taylor said they had purchased a lot of plants after the cyclone wiped out about two-thirds of their crop in February.
She said germination of native seeds was going well and they would have a “really good crop” ready for next year, and they had been helped by property owners donating seeds.
Taylor said, interestingly, a lot of established native plants around the area had come through the floods okay.
“Some species fell over straight away and died or didn’t like the silt, but some species seem to love it and it did not affect them at all.”
Chris Fletcher, a tutor at Workforce Development, a programme for youth who are no longer in high school, said his students had really enjoyed getting out last week helping to fix up damaged plant boxes at Taradale.
Some of those new plant boxes were knocked over which the regional council believed may have been done by dogs.
