At the heart of our planting operations is a sun-soaked spot at the end of Kelvin Peninsula. Here, each week on a Wednesday, people from all parts of the world and all walks of life meet to work towards a shared goal: growing native plants to restore biodiversity to key sites around Whakatipu Basin.

The Jean Malpas Community Nursery was established in 2014 and nowadays 10,000 plants each year are nurtured from eco-sourced seed here until they are ready to be planted out at our sites. 

Catherine Robb is our Nursery Volunteer Coordinator and each Wednesday morning from 9.00am to 12.00pm she hosts volunteers who carry out all the tasks involved in propagating plants, maintaining seedlings and generally taking care of the nursery site.

There’s always plenty to do – from “potting on” seedlings (separating and putting them in larger pots) to weeding the growing plants, washing equipment and helping our chief seed collector and plant propagator Helen in the propagation shed. 

Anyone is welcome to turn up at a nursery session – it’s drop-in style – and stay for as long as they’re able. 

Jen Seed has been volunteering regularly since she moved to Queenstown six years ago. “I look forward to it and if I’m in town, I make sure that I can go because it really is an enjoyable experience. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people, and feel good knowing you’re contributing to a better environment.”

Out of the nursery sessions, many a friendship has sprouted along with the ‘Cop prop’ seedlings (nursery-speak for Coprosma propinqua), kōwhai, beech and hebes. “The people that go care about the environment and in that sense they are like-minded,” says Jen. 

But it’s also the learning that keeps Jen coming back. “I’ve learnt a lot more in general about plants, and also because I’m from the North Island, the native plants up there are very different, they’re more subtropical. So I’ve started to appreciate plants like matagouri.”

Working alongside the very knowledgeable people who volunteer at the nursery is a bonus for anyone interested in plants or who want to learn more about the unique native flora of this region.

“You’re learning something different from doing it in your garden, working at scale. We’re always learning – things like that beech trees do much better if you’ve got some of the fungi in with it, and that the tiny beech seedlings do better in bunches than separated into root trainers. That’s something we trialled this year.”

In addition to the learning that goes on, the sessions serve as a connector for all kinds of people in the community. Some are visitors looking for a different experience of local life, others are new arrivals looking to meet like-minded people or sole business operators and freelancers taking a break from the laptop to “touch green” for an hour or two. There are horticultural students who visit as well as retirees and parents with kids.  

These individuals may well be joined by students on our Educate for Nature programme or a local business who have come along as part of a team-building experience or community activation day. 

So if you’re thinking of joining in, don’t be shy – as Jen says, “there’s always a good conversation to be had,” amongst our eclectic group of green thumbs. Or if you’re interested in bringing along a work or school group, feel free to get in touch by emailing Karen on volunteer@wrtqt.org.nz.

We’re incredibly grateful for our wonderful volunteers. Without their dedication, the nursery’s success simply wouldn’t be possible! 

Thanks to some generous contributions this year, work towards a shared vision of restoring biodiversity to the site is gaining serious momentum. (check out our video here)

The Slope Hill Recreation Reserve, between Slope Hill Road and Wai Whakaata-Lake Hayes, is a 33ha area of DOC land that has recently been retired from grazing.

Cyclists passing through on the Countryside Trail currently see the early stages of a biodiversity restoration project on a tributary leading to our wonderful Wai Whakaata-Lake Hayes, where WRT first began restoration work in 2019. An extensive section of willow has been removed all the way downstream to the reserve boundary, with adjacent neighbours removing willows downstream to the bridge too.

While they do look pretty in autumn, willows are problematic in our waterways because they channelise the water and suppress the growth of indigenous wetland plants. Those deciduous leaves and their large root systems can also congest creeks and streams.

In their place, our volunteers planted over 7,500 native riparian plants to help slow and filter the stream water and to soak up excessive nutrients – the transformation is already striking. As a tributary of Mill Creek that in turn runs into Lake Hayes, these riparian plants are now working to purify the water on its way toward the lake. Through Jobs for Nature funding, Mana Tāhuna is continuing the planting in this zone, in addition to other awesome mahi they’ve undertaken in the catchment to improve the health of the lake.

If you’re on the Countryside Trail today though, and pause to look beyond this riparian strip towards the top of Slope Hill, you’ll see a barren grass paddock, a part of the Trail to rush past rather than enjoy. Thanks to some game-changing grants and collaboration with other local organisations, that view will soon look very different!

In 2024 two significant projects will see a further 30,000 native trees and shrubs planted to kick off the revegetation of the hill above the stream that connects the Slope Hill cycle trail to Lake Hayes.

King Charles III Coronation Planting – 19-22 March, 2024

King Charles is well-known for his love of gardening and passion for conservation. So to celebrate the King’s coronation, the New Zealand government made a donation of $1 million to Trees That Count to allow the planting of over 100,000 native trees in He Rā Rākau Tītapu – King Charles III Coronation Plantings.

We were fortunate to be given funding for 7000 trees from Trees That Count for Slope Hill Reserve. Additionally, Simplicity Kiwi and Patagonia NZ are also supporting the effort with some generous co-funding.

WRT and Mana Tāhuna will again join forces to deliver a four-day community planting event involving local schools, businesses and community members.

Tuesday 19 March – schools

Wednesday 20 March – schools

Thursday 21 March – Tourism operators

Friday 22 March – Local businesses / sponsors / community

Keen to be involved? Email volunteer@wrtqt.org.nz

Hilton Global Foundation Planting Project

Between August and October 2024, we will undertake our most ambitious planting project ever, made possible by a generous grant from the Hilton Global Foundation, and partnership with Mana Tāhuna Charitable Trust.

WRT will project manage the planting of 22,000 native trees and shrubs by the Mana Tāhuna crew, to put this in perspective, it would take 10 years of our usual community volunteer planting to achieve the same outcome.

This is a very exciting project to be involved in. We think in biodiversity ‘corridors’ when we plan for planting and Slope Hill Recreation Reserve is central to the corridor between Arrowtown and Lake Whakatipu. With careful planning and ongoing maintenance – the work doesn’t stop once the plants are in the ground – we will create a well-established, thriving habitat and food source for birds, lizards and invertebrates, resounding with the native bird song that is so integral to New Zealand’s identity.

There are of course, many other benefits to restoring native vegetation to the hillside including climate change mitigation, land stabilisation and the sequestration of 8138T of carbon over 50 years.

This will be one for the history books!

2022 was an outstanding year for the Trust as we continue to work towards our vision of restoring the biodiversity of the Whakatipu Basin through revegetation projects, education, collaboration and advocacy.

Despite the ongoing interruptions caused by Covid 19, volunteers at our Community Nursery grew 10,282 native trees, shrubs & grasses, which were planted at our Keystone Sites, Community Group Sites & School sites, taking the total number to 70,416 natives planted since 2015.

The impact of our mahi is becoming more visibly evident as our sites become well established, with outstanding growth this year thanks to the wet spring and warm summer….

Volunteering at a community native tree planting event is a great way to take action to mitigate climate change, restore biodiversity & have a fun and social day out in nature with awesome, like minded people.  If you are new to volunteering at native tree planting days, here’s a brief summary about what to expect on the day.

All of our planting dates and locations are listed on our website and facebook events.  Parking is generally close to the planting site, with a green Whakatipu Reforestation Trust flag indicating you are at the right place!  On arrival, you will be greeted by a team member wearing a hi-viz vest, and directed to the registration table, where you will be welcomed, sign-in, and receive a health and safety briefing.

From there, one of our volunteers will show you where to get any equipment you may need (shovel, gloves, fertiliser etc) and demonstrate how to plant a native tree.  While we appreciate that many community members are avid gardeners, we do like to take the time to show each new volunteer how we plant natives to give them the best chance of survival in a non-garden setting.  The demonstration includes:

• How deep to dig each hole,
• How much fertiliser to apply to each plant,
• How to remove plants from the black plastic bags,
• Placement of weed mats,
• Installing plant guards and bamboo canes to protect plants from browsing rabbits (not all sites),
• How to mulch,,  
• What to do with the bags once you have finished planting.

Then you are ready to get planting!!  All of the plants, plant guards, bamboo stakes etc will have already been distributed around the planting site, so you can look around and find some plants that are ready to be dug in, and start digging and planting.   

We reuse black plastic plant bags, so we ask volunteers to take care when removing the plants from the bags.  The bags are collected throughout the morning (a great job for kids), and volunteers will fold these so they can be taken back to the nursery for washing.

So, that’s the technical side of things… but we all know that morning tea, including hot chocolate with marshmallows, is the real draw card for planting days!!  We are very grateful to both the Hilton Queenstown and Crowne Plaza Queenstown for providing morning tea for our volunteers.  Hot drinks and morning snacks are provided mid morning, and this is a great opportunity to take a rest, refill your water bottle, and chat with fellow volunteers. 

Planting is generally finished by late morning.  And once all of the plants are in the ground, we ask volunteers to help tidy up the site & return all of the planting equipment.  

At our Whitechapel Reserve planting day, we wrap up the event with a community BBQ sausage sizzle (vegan and GF friendly of course!).  It’s always an amazing feeling to look over the site once planting is complete, and appreciate how much has been achieved by our community of volunteers!  Now is the time to pat each other on the back for a job well done!

Of course, the day would not be complete without loads of selfies and cool photos of plants for your socials!  Please remember to tag us #whakatipureforestationtrust so we can check out your photos too!!  We will also be taking photos throughout the event.  If someone in hi-viz asks to take your photo, please feel free to either give them your best smile, or let them know if you would rather not have your photo taken.  We respect that not everyone wants to end up in our FB and Insta posts!  

We are excited about this upcoming spring planting season and are looking forward to working together to plant over 5000 native trees and shrubs throughout September.  

For further information:

Web:  https://wrtqt.org.nz/community-planting-days/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/wrtqt.org.nz

Email:  volunteer@wrtqt.org.nz

Last year, Sebastian, Alejandro & Charlie – the founding partners of No Trace Events – visited our Community Nursery to learn about our history, our work and our vision.  They had a fledgling idea to bring beautiful music to beautiful locations and to leave no trace, and they were on the lookout for community based conservation organisations that aligned with their values of sustainability and the environment.  

As we wandered around the nursery, I shared the history of the Trust, and how we had grown from an idea to create a small native plant nursery supplying natives to a few sites around Queenstown.  So too, No Trace Events, started as an idea borne out of Covid lockdown.  At a time where it is easy to feel discouraged and cynical about the state of the world, Sebastian, Alejandro & Charlie are taking positive steps to create a better future.  No Trace Events creates amazing parties that make me want to be in my 20s again!  However, these parties have some not-so-subtle underlying themes.  Firstly, they leave no trace – they use biodegradable wristbands at events, and drinks are either served in fully recyclable cans or reusable tumblers made from RPET that get cleaned and reused after each event. Secondly, 10% of all their profits are donated to conservation.  In their first year, No Trace donated the equivalent of 504 native trees to WRT!  They also support Kiwi Birdlife Park, as well as various ocean conservation groups including The Coral Gardeners, 4Ocean, Sea Shepherd and the Reef Alliance.  This level of support speaks volumes to their commitment to make a real difference to land and sea conservation.

Additionally, No Trace has a strong focus on using their influence to educate their party goers.  Early next year, they are planning a multi day music festival, which will be kicking off with a series of interactive environment / sustainability focused workshops.  Not your average start to a music festival!

Last Autumn, the No Trace team joined us planting natives at Whitechapel Reserve.  It was one of those memorably wet days, when really you just wanted to stay home!  But despite the rain and wind, the team put on their raincoats and when planting was over they turned up the music to help us celebrate having planted 50,000 natives.  It was great to have the additional fun and energy of music accompanying our community BBQ! 

We at WRT are grateful that No Trace has chosen to support our work and vision.  And we are proud of these young men who have chosen to walk the path of “being the change they want to see in the world.”  

This autumn, hundreds of volunteers planted 5,000 natives at our keystone and community group sites throughout the Whakatipu Basin from Arrowtown to Gibbston, Arthurs Point and more. Every one of these plants was grown by volunteers at our Community Nursery in Kelvin Heights, from eco-sourced seeds. An amazing effort by our nursery manager Barbara, and her wonderful team of volunteers who attend our nursery on Wednesday mornings to grow and nurture these precious plants.

We kicked off our planting season with 1500 natives at our Whitechapel Reserve keystone site in Arrow Junction. Despite the rain and cold, 80 volunteers joined us as we planted and celebrated a fantastic milestone of having planted 50,000 natives since 2015. Our amazing friends at the Hilton Hotel provided a delicious morning tea, including urns of freshly brewed coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows! Awesome local company No Trace Events turned up the tunes for our BBQ lunch! We also had heaps of spot prizes donated by local businesses and supporters. Huge thanks to these local business!

Ziptrek Ecotours for the Kereru Zip ride
The Remarkables, Coronet Peak & Mt Hutt for the adult day pass
Kiwi Birdlife Park for the family annual pass
Trees that Count for lovely t-shirts & plant snap
Whakatipu Wildlife Trust for caps & water bottles
Bee the Change NZ for Whitechapel honey
Dept of Conservation (DOC) for hut passes

At Bush Creek 600 natives were planted, extending our coverage at this new site along the walking / cycling trail behind the Chinese Village. Lake Hayes South is looking fantastic, with 400 natives planted up to the fence of private land. Everyone was amazed by the growth and high survival rate at this site, with last years plants literally bursting upwards! A big thank you to our volunteer Hans, who works away quietly maintaining this site.

Our final planting day was at our riparian site beside the cycle trail off Slope Hill Road, along the unnamed tributary of Mill Creek. 1000 natives were planted by 60 volunteers (many in gumboots) on what started off as a frosty morning, but turned into a warm, sunny day. The awesome team at Crowne Plaza Queenstown provided a delicious morning tea, and we finished our day with a community BBQ. A special thank you to our volunteers Tom & Helen for their work in maintaining this and other sites, and especially for their efforts in preparing this site for planting.

Our community groups continue to amaze and inspire us with their hard work and dedication. All of our community sites are looking fantastic, and are worth visiting to see how these groups are transforming once weed infested land to diverse native plantings. At Alpine Retreat, the community reports return of native birdsong, where just a few years ago there was only the silence of wilding pines forest. To date 1500 natives have been planted and an active predator trapping program is in place. Morning Star Reserve (KAPOW) planted a further 350 natives this autumn. Gibbston Reserve on Coal Pit Road just completed their second planting of 150 plants into hard ground. However the natives planted last spring are growing vigorously, and the community are doing a fantastic job at maintaining this area. We acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all of our community groups!!

The end of planting season is not time for us to rest on our laurels! Our nursery will be moving to winter volunteer hours of 12.00-3.00pm from 19 May. And we are already planning our spring planting campaign, with dates published on our website and FB.

Finally, we thank every one of our sponsors and donors, large and small. Our impact and success completely relies your ongoing support and generosity. If you would like to make a donation or talk to us about how you can support our work, please feel free to contact us.

Ngā mihi nui.
The WRT Team.

Last Friday, the Patterson Pitts Group survey team spent their day volunteering at Lake Hayes South. Despite a wet, cold start, the team worked with energy & enthusiasm to clear & prepare our upcoming planting area! They dragged logs and branches up onto massive piles on the flat section by the road.

Additionally, part of the team spent their day on scrub bars, clearing the weeds around the established natives. It was an immense team effort and the transformation speaks for itself! Our most heartfelt thanks to Stephen Popenhagen and his team for a choosing to volunteer with WRT, and for a job well done!

Lake Hayes South is one of our premier Keystone Sites, highly visible as you drive towards Lake Hayes Pavillion. WRT started planting here in 2015, and to date over 5000 natives are thriving at this site. A further 400 natives are ready to be planted by volunteers on Saturday 24th April.