Tauhara College-Plantation Reserve
In 2019 students from Tauhara worked with KGT to create a vision plan for the Miro Street Plantation Reserve. This reserve is 20m wide and runs for one km between Taharepa and Tauhara road. It originally had a footpath and only a small amount of exotic and native planting. The objectives were to make the reserve more attractive so that people would start to use this area and also to increase the indigenous biodiversity and wildlife. The plan wanted to prioritise the use of sustainable resources where possible and to discourage antisocial behaviour in this area. Stakeholders were identified and a detailed plan was formed.
Vision - to revive and enhance indigenous biodiversity and reinforce cultural connections of the community to the area
This is an ambitious multi year project which is ongoing, here is an update as to what has been going on for the last few years..
The original planting started in 2019 (above) led by Sian. As well as planting there have been multiple learning opportunities. In 2021 KGT worked with the Tauhara STEAM class who investigated the local bird diversity in the Reserve. They then started to investigate the local pest problem. Students gained ecological knowledge about pest adaptations, habitats and characteristics which helped them spark innovative ideas for traps plus they've been developing their DVC skills for trap design. To identify which pest species they were dealing with they put out chew cards, but didn't find any evidence on the cards of pests. However then they tried tracking pest pawprints instead with tracking tunnels and discovered that there were lots of rats out there, as well as hedgehogs! Ngā mihi nui Contact Energy for funding this project through the KGT Take Action Fund!
In 2022 there were several plantings and mulching days throughout the year (photos below).
Planting at Plantation Reserve continued in 2023! The college won 50 plants for their student-led efforts during Greening Taupō Day which were, funded by The Possum Night run. These were perfect to in-fill plant in last year's planting, as well as continue the existing plantings from years' past. Another great advantage, was that this class earned credits by learning how to plant properly as well as how to continue to care for the plants. Students also found that tools like augers are great when the soil is as hard as concrete. Thanks to our volunteer Hutch, as he was able to properly dig the holes. We were also lucky to be able to use a healthy scoop of vermicast with each plant. The vermicast was donated by MyNoke and will help to kickstart these plants especially in the pumice soil found in this area. As it is always good to know what you are planting, our coordinators Rachel and Heidi were able to take the opportunity to teach the students how to identify the difference between harakeke, toetoe, and tī kōuka among others.
In 2024 students added some more plants to their restoration project in Plantation Reserve with the support of Brenna from Taupō District Council. Thanks to funding from the Contact Energy Take Action Fund.
The original plantings are looking good (see below). We also checked out some of the established native trees. Planting in this reserve connects up with our recent Greening Taupō Day planting at the Taupō Golf Course, helping to build a native corridor for birds from Tauhara maunga into town. We look forward to seeing this project continue to progress.
