OLG News - 29,000 plants in the ground- so far!
On Saturday 8 September 2018 eighty-five people came along to Bushy Point in Otatara to help with the annual Otatara Landcare Group (OLG) planting project. In the Year 2000 (you remember, that year everything electronic was going to stop!) Barry Smith came up with the “2000 in 2000” project. The idea was that every resident of Otatara would plant a native tree at Bushy Point. Now, 18 years later we are onto our 29000th tree. It’s a big OLG effort supported by the community and it seems to go from strength to strength. The aim of joining up two areas of bush (the totara forest and the regenerating kahikatea forest) has largely happened and large area of former paddock are now a flourishing regeneration area. For those not so familiar with the project it also got an injection of enthusiasm and funding in 2011 from the Rugby World Cup (well the Tindall Foundation under the banner of the world cup) supporting a project in every region of the country by funding the purchase of native plants and their maintenance for the following three years. On the ground that meant an extra 10,000 plants in three years. The large turn-out of people in September meant that the 1000 locally grown plants were in the ground by lunchtime – snug under their combi-guards (to prevent rabbit browse) and we were all tucking into a well-earned BBQ sausage. Planting days are great for their camaraderie and fun – it’s a family day and it is gratifying to see so many children who will remember planting here and visiting in years to come. Bushy Point is Department of Conservation land where the OLG has a 30 year lease to convert the paddocks back to nature. It is open space, available to everyone and has walkways, a pond, native planting, tracks and interpretation – check it out, access from the end of Bryson Road, Otatara.
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 October 2018