Urban Ngahere

Urban Ngahere Forest Strategy 

Native planting at our club was previously suggested in a Strategic Planning Document back in 2010 for our extensive grounds.  The steep banks surrounding our petanque terrain have been difficult and costly to mow  with club members often having to put in the hard yards themselves. 

In August 2021, with a lot of help and support from Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH), this goal came to fruition.  On our first planting day we chose hardy, mostly sun loving plants that would be able to survive in the dry, clay banks near the water's edge of Ngataringa Bay.  This website was helpful. 

Club members were urged to propagate and look after small seedlings ready for planting in winter.  We put in over 200 seedlings in that first planting day.  These were looked after through the summer months by surrounding them with sacking (thanks to Chiasso coffee roasters) and lots of mulch.   

The next annual planting day happened on 12 August 2022.  We successfully planted over 250 seedlings in one morning, thanks again to the team of volunteers from RTH.  It felt like "plant bombing" - one minute there is a grassy slope, 2 hours later it is covered in native seedlings.   Note the number of people who turned up under pedal power in the photo adjacent!

Auckland's urban Ngahere (Forest) strategy addresses "how we can protect what we value in the face of a growing and urbanising population, rising inequality, and the major impacts of invasive pests and climate change".

The Devonport/Takapuna Local Board area has only low to moderate (10-20%) tree cover at present.  Another session of weed releasing and mulching these seedlings went ahead on October 14th thanks to the man power of RTH.