Native Seedling Rescue
This is the third year that our student leaders have had the opportunity to work alongside NZ Forest Managers and rehome native plants. These native seedlings were growing under an established redwood plantation forest and were never going to get the opportunity to reach their full potential. It is amazing how many different species of natives we found growing under the canopy. As we have several years of experience of ‘native rescue’ from plantation forest, we have found a simple transplant method which gives us good plant survival rates. Our method has been backed up with research from a science project undertaken by some of our student leaders at Taupō Intermediate School. Hana and Taylor looked at whether native plants grow better in the soil from which they were taken or in potting mix, and they found that plants grow best in the soil they came from. Why do you think this might be? By, packing lots of native plants into buckets along with the surrounding soil, then transplanting them directly into the ground within a few days we have an efficient way to ‘ rescue native seedlings’ which is economic with both money and time.
Over the next few days all our carefully collected plants were planted out in areas with established canopy, as they initially need protection from both the frost and sunlight. Students from St Patrick’s Catholic School and Northwood Kindergarten planted out seedlings into the Brentwood gully and student leaders from Waipāhīhī School joined up with tamariki from Central Kids Early Education to put plants into the Hawai Reserve. It is great to get so many students involved in this process and to be able to rescue native trees and help improve our local environment.
