More than 44,000 native trees will be planted on the Richmond Hills this winter and several thousand of those will be planted by Keep Richmond Beautiful volunteers.
It builds on more than 62,000 trees that have been planted since the pine forests on the hillsides were harvested, with the mix including 15,300 of mixed-forest species.
The planting follows the Tasman District Council’s plan to eventually replace all the pine plantation on the hills with a mix of native and exotic trees, as well as improving recreational tracks for walkers and mountainbikers. This year’s plantings will take place in Lodestone and Jimmy Lee catchments and in 2025 a further 35,000 native trees will be planted, with the bulk of the planting done by contractors.
Keep Richmond Beautiful chairperson, Greg Pickford, has the hills literally on his back doorstep and any day of the week he is weeding or trapping pests to help get young trees established.
He is part of a team of 29 volunteers who can turn up at working bees and says the group has a wealth of skills, including David Burt who has made more than 80 of the wooden tables distributed around the region. Last year, the group’s work earned them an Environmental Services Award from Keep New Zealand Beautiful.
Vice chairman Ross Cullen says the group has a regular Wednesday morning working bee and this winter that will include planting trees on the Richmond Hills, which was renamed Kingsland Forest Park to signify the change from a commercial forest to a recreational area.
Titoki Nursery near Brightwater is supplying native trees for Kingsland Forest Park and owner Tim Le Gros says about three-quarters of the plants are now in Ellepots, which are a biodegradable pot that can be put direct in the ground. They also only need to be planted 100mm deep compared with the longer root-trainer method.
Council communications officer, Tim O’Connell, says the 2025 plantings will complete the planting of most of the recently-harvested areas on the hills. The remaining pine plantation above Reservoir Creek is expected to be harvested in 10 to 12 years and then the entire hill area will be solely recreational.
The estimated cost to plant more than 50 hectares of land already harvested is about $1.1 million, he says, which is funded by the council, the Government’s Better Off Funding and Trees That Count.
Through Tranche One of the Government’s Better Off Funding, $487,000 was provided on top of the initial budget which Tim says helped enhance the overall development plan. That included more planting, a new toilet, picnic table or seating, plus a water refill station.
Though the region has been through a drought, he says survival rates for the planting done to date have been encouraging, with areas of native regeneration coming through well.
Weed control is a bigger challenge, especially on the steep, rugged terrain and Tim says it will be an ongoing task for a number of years. Aerial spraying has been used pre-planting on harvested areas, but the best hope to battle old man’s beard, which can smother plants, will be the sawfly. The biological-control agent has been reintroduced at two release sites in the region and Tim says it will eventually have value in the Kingsland Forest Park.
He says the council is aiming for a balance of species for their aesthetic value including various oaks, liquidambars and poplars on the list.
