Queenstown tourism industry volunteers plant future forest
The event marks the third year of the restoration partnership, with more than 7,000 natives planted together at the Kelvin Heights site
More than 150 volunteers from across Queenstown’s tourism industry planted 3,000 native seedlings at Jardine Park, transforming ground cleared of wilding pines just months ago into the beginnings of a native forest.
Working in a cheerful bustle of digging, composting and planting, volunteers from the sector and wider business community showed how much a collective effort can achieve, at the latest Love Queenstown Industry Planting Day on Thursday, 22 October.
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The event marks the third year of a restoration partnership between Love Queenstown, the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust, Skyline and Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), with more than 7,000 natives planted together at the Kelvin Heights site.
Love Queenstown Community Fund Coordinator Ash Bickley said the impact extends well beyond the planting days themselves.
“We’ve been working alongside the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust for a number of years now, so it’s pretty special to see how far this work has come.”
“More businesses are getting involved, wildlife is already being found among the young trees, and you can see what everyone’s efforts are adding up to.”
“A huge thank you to everyone who stepped away from work to get their hands in the soil. These days take months of preparation, and seeing so many people arrive ready to help makes it all worthwhile.“
The restoration brings together organisations working at different stages of the same task. Whakatipu Wilding Control Group and QLDC led the removal of mature pines, a seed source for wilding spread locally and across Lake Whakatipu. Reforestation Trust volunteers grow native plants from locally collected seed at the neighbouring community nursery.
Southern Lakes Sanctuary and Whakatipu Wildlife Trust are also helping to map and support wildlife in restoration areas, with cryptic skinks recently found among earlier plantings at the site.
Whakatipu Reforestation Trust Operations Manager Sararose Brown said the partnership has enabled planting on a scale the trust could not readily achieve alone.
“This patch was still covered in wilding pines in June. Getting those trees down, preparing the ground and having everyone here planting just a few months later is a wonderful result. Working together means we can do so much more.”
“We’re planting mountain beech, podocarps and broadleaf species that once would have grown here on the lake margins, providing food and habitat for wildlife. In 20 years, people will be walking beneath these trees with birds above them. That’s a lovely thing to help create.”
Padraic Prendergast, Skyline Queenstown Sustainability Coordinator and Wilding Control Group Volunteer Coordinator, says removing the pines has benefits beyond the park.
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“Those mature trees were sending seed beyond the park, including towards the Remarkables and across the lake to Cecil Peak. There hasn’t been a cone-producing wilding on Cecil Peak since 2015, but we’re still removing thousands of trees there because seed keeps blowing across.
“Taking out sources like this helps reduce that ongoing work, and seeing thousands of native seedlings go in instead is a fantastic turnaround.”
Usable logs from wildings on the Jardine Park site were recovered, while leftover material was mulched or buried on site to help support the growth of new plants.
“It shows how much can happen in a short time when businesses, conservation groups and volunteers all chip in,” Mr Prendergast said. “Skyline is a proud supporter of this partnership and the important work it has achieved so far.”
While this planting completes the partners’ initial three-year programme, restoration at Jardine Park will continue, with further planting and care for naturally regenerating natives.
