Volunteering to Protect Our Unique Flora

Our Coordinators are passionate about volunteering and learning firsthand about the conservation of threatened species. Recently, we had the privilege of supporting the Department of Conservation (DOC) in their efforts to protect the unique and special plant, Te Pua o te Reinga (Dactylanthus).

Dactylanthus (Dactylanthus taylorii) is a highly unusual plant, and holds a special place in New Zealand's indigenous flora as the only fully parasitic flowering plant and the southern most member of its mainly tropical family. This plant has become nationally vulnerable due to the loss of its natural pollinator, the endangered lesser short-tailed bat. On top of that, its sweet nectar is a favourite treat for possums and rats, which has further endangered its survival.

During our volunteer day, we monitored protected plants, recorded their progress, maintained protective cages, and even hand-pollinated some of the flowers. It was an incredibly rewarding day spent learning in the heart of our native bush.

This experience highlighted just how everything in our ecosystem is connected. Protecting even the less visible parts of our environment, like dactylanthus, is crucial to maintaining the balance of our natural world.

A big thank you to the Department of Conservation, Forest & Bird, and Project Tongariro Mahi Aroha for the opportunity to be part of such important conservation work!

The following weekend our coordinators took some student leaders to Tokoroa to learn more about Te Pua o te Reinga with Mokaihaha Kōkako Trust. They learnt about the sad history of this parasitic plant and how it was destroyed by people selling the roots of the trees it was growing on as ornaments called 'wood roses'. After talking about how possums destroy plants by eating the flowers, they saw first hand a flower that had been pulled off an uncaged plant by a possum. Then they helped fix cages protecting the plants and even got to hand pollinate the flowers.

Thanks Department of Conservation for this wonderful learning opportunity.