One sunny spring morning, 15 of the Stray Head Office team ventured to the northern edge of Auckland to Atiu Creek Regional Park on a mission to plant as many native trees as possible with local non-profit organisation Conservation Volunteers.
Tree planting along the wetlands at Atiu Creek was a big change of pace for the Auckland-based Stray office crew, but after 2.5 hours of dedicated work, 500 new manuka and kanuka trees were in the ground, contributing to Conservation Volunteers’ goal to plant 20,000 new trees in Atiu Creek this year.
Conservation Volunteers New Zealand
Originally established in Australia, Conservation Volunteers came to New Zealand in 2006 and is dedicated to managing volunteer conservation projects around the country. They organise volunteers from all walks of life and from all over the world to work on a diverse range of one-day and multi-day conservation projects. Their New Zealand projects are based around Auckland and Wellington on the North Island and Punakaiki on the South Island.
Atiu Creek Regional Park
Situated on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour in northwest Auckland, Atiu Creek is a real hidden gem with its scenic harbour views, rolling green hills and tracks of native forest. It’s also one of the rare places in New Zealand containing intact natural coastal forest, as well as providing critical habitat for threatened native bird species.
Conservation Volunteers has committed to a 10 year project restoring key areas of the former farmland within park. In addition to planting native trees like the Stray team did, volunteers can also get involved with weeding, removing invasive pest plants, seed collection and even creating walking tracks.
Prior to this project many of the Stray staff had never heard of Atiu Creek, but are stoked to return in the future and see how the trees are growing, as well as take advantage of the park’s numerous walking tracks, mountain bike trails and campgrounds open to the public.
Orange is the New Green
This Atiu Creek tree planting project is part of Stray’s ongoing ‘Orange is the New Green’ campaign. Not only do we want visitors to do their part in keeping NZ clean and green, but Stray staff are committed to making a difference by participating in local and regional environmental projects.
Find out more about how we #makeadifference at Stray!
See more photos from the Atiu Creek tree planting project on Stray’s Facebook page.
