Brightwater School pupils marked their fourth consecutive year of tree planting at Snowden’s Bush in Brightwater recently.
The school’s annual planting event is organised in collaboration with the Friends of Snowden’s Bush, a local volunteer group dedicated to preserving and restoring the area.
This year, the team successfully planted 265 native trees. Snowden’s Bush spans over five hectares off Waimea West Rd and is one of the last remaining pockets of native lowland podocarp forest on the Waimea Plains.
Home to towering totara, titoki, and matai—some hundreds of years old—it is a significant ecological and community treasure. Building on knowledge gained in previous years, students confidently carried out the planting process—digging holes, staking, and placing protective guards around the young trees.
Fifteen native species were planted, including some less common ones such as Melicytus micranthus, Teucrium parvifolium, and Streblus heterophyllus.
The plantings focused on strengthening the forest edge, with the long-term goal of reducing wind entering the forest and improving overall resilience.
The team also worked to fill in gaps from earlier plantings where some species had failed to establish, largely due to drought.
