The Whakatipu Reforestation Trust thrives on the goodwill and hard work of our volunteers. Volunteers help us turn our vision into a reality, one plant at a time.
Whether you have lived in the Queenstown-Lakes area all your life or are visiting for a short time, we would love to show you what we do and to get you involved.
Ways You Can Volunteer
Community Nursery Sessions
We welcome volunteers to our community nursery to help with all aspects of growing our native plants from eco sourced seeds. No experience necessary.
Spring/summer volunteer hours: Wednesday is nursery day!!
Wednesday morning: 9am -12 noon
Wednesday evening: 5.30 – 8pm (until March 11th)
What to bring:
Gardening gloves (if you have them), Water, sunhat, sunscreen.
Location: Jean Malpas Community Nursery, Poplar Drive, Kelvin Heights.
Community Working Bees and Planting Days
Summer Working Bees: Every Tuesday morning. Keep an eye on social media for other events and pop-up sessions.
Tuesday March 10th: 9am – 12: Slopehill Reserve, Slopehill Road (entrance from Speargrass Flat Road end ONLY) Look out for the green WRT flag.
Tuesday March 17th: 9am – 12: Whitechapel Reserve, Whitechapel Road Arrow Junction. You will see us beyond the planting area at the entrance to the river trail. All very welcome!
What to bring: Gardening gloves, Water, sunhat, sunscreen.
We will supply tools, gloves if needed and picnic morning tea!
Autumn 2026 planting: Come autumn we will be planting native plants at our keystone sites.
Save the dates:
March 28th: Slopehill Reserve.
May 2nd: Whitechapel Reserve
May 9th Lake Hayes Rowing Club
To date, we have planted over 135,000 natives throughout the Whakatipu Basin.
Volunteered Services
We welcome volunteers who can contribute their own expertise and help in other ways. For example by providing:
✓ Photography ✓ Writing ✓ Artwork ✓ Spraying ✓ Using Scrub-bar ✓ Fundraising ✓ Engineering ✓ Building
Become a Planting Partner
We can provide plants and support to other groups who take on the planting and management of sites on public land throughout the Whakatipu Basin.
We’d love to hear from you, your business, community association, community group or school if you are interested in taking on a planting site.
Newsletter Signup
Join our mailing list to keep up to date with news, community planting days and latest developments…