A Waipā nursery is donating thousands of trees to rural schools across the North Island.
Restore Native owner Adam Thompson says it’s an important social and environmental initiative specifically targeted at rural schools.
Adam Thompson sees the benefits of getting children involved in planting projects.
His company plants over a million native plants a year, mainly for use in farm plantings to restore land, improve biodiversity, and protect waterways.
Elstow Waihou School created a planting plan for thier native trees
A total of 54 rural schools in and around the Waikato expressed an interest in receiving bundles of trees, and around 5000 trees are being distributed across the region.
“We see the kids engaging with the natural world around them by planting a tree at school, it’s a really beautiful thing. It gives them something to connect and relate to in their learning environment,” Thompson, who owns a 180-hectare beef farm on the outskirts of Cambridge, said.
Schools choose where and how their donated trees are planted. Some have been placed on school grounds, others on farms to repair and restore gullies, steep hillsides and stream banks, or protect wetlands and waterways.
One school in Te Aroha planted their trees to create a barrier to road noise.
In response to the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle last year, Restore Native led a Trees for Tairāwhiti programme where the price of their native trees was reduced to $2 to encourage widespread tree donations for the region. For every tree purchased by the community, Restore Native matched it. In the end, over 10,000 trees were given back to the affected farmers and landowners in the region.
“We see the value that planting native trees can do for the environment and how much it impacts communities,” Thompson says.
Beau Rouse from Rukuhia with his plant
