Tree planting on Motutapu

Team New Zealand Green Building Council! (and friends)

Arriving at Motutapu

Last weekend the New Zealand Green Building Council participated in one of their yearly volunteer activities, tree planting on Motutapu Island. This island is situated in Auckland harbour and is basically right next to Mount Rangitoto, the volcano featured in earlier photos.

Apparently Motutapu was one of the earliest inhabited sites the Auckland region and was largely deforested following Rangitoto's eruption in AD1400. The vegetation not damaged by the eruption was subsequently decimated by human settlements (both Maori and European) as well as the introduction of pests.

This island is beautifully located, amidst the bay and fellow islands, but looks eerily barren, despite it's rich green pastures. The Motutapu Restoration Trust has been working hard to return it to its previous splendour, and for the past 20 years volunteers have planted over 350,000 trees, all indigenous of course, achieving 80 hectares of native bush. Massive pest eradication has also been on the agenda and the island is now free of wallabies and possums, though hedgehogs remain plentiful.

This was one of my first opportunities (i'm embarrassed to say) to finally get out of city life and smell nature once again. Bird calls abounded and it felt truly wonderful to get dirty on that beautiful sunny winter day.

Auckland, as seen from the ferry

Some of the landscape to be transformed

Hard at work

A successfully planted patch, about 15 years old

A rare sight, an old growth tree amongst the new forest

To the left, the new forest, to the right, there's still lots to go!

View out towards the Pacific ocean

First example of Green Building?

nah, just military battle stations set up during World War II. And sheep.