Today was Arbor Day in NZ and to mark the occasion, 1800 native saplings were planted in the Pharazyn Reserve. They included: Tauhinu (Ozothamnus leptophyllus), Taupata (Coprosma Repens), Tikouka, NZ Cabbage Tree (Cordyline Australis), Kanuka (Kunzea Ericoides), Akeake (Dodonaea viscosa), Ngaio (Myroporum laetum) and Mahoe (Melicytus Novae-Zealadiae).

The Waikanae schools have been involved in this work for several years, but pulled out today because of the bad weather forecast, so council Parks and Reserves staff did the work.

The vegetation that you see now in the Pharazyn Reserve has almost all been planted since a tornado in 2011 devastated the pine trees that were there previously.  The transformation in that time has been very impressive, thanks to dedication and regular maintenance by both council staff — notably biodiversity manager Rob Cross — and volunteers.  Geoffrey and Margaret are the WCB appointees on the 5-member focus group which oversees the stategy and we are both delighted to be involved.