Taieri Recreational Tramping Club

The Hereweka Harbour Cone block of 328ha where the Future Forest is, was bought by the DCC in 2008. Since 2015 it has been managed by the Hereweka Harbour Cone Charitable Trust with STOP – Save the Otago Peninsula doing the work on the ground. The forest is called Future Forest because the trees are planted to protect our future!

One of the driving forces behind STOP is Lala Frazer & I emailed her with some questions a couple of days before our walk. I was so impressed, she answered me so quickly & clearly that I have included our “discussion” with my report.

Jenny

Here are some interesting facts in the written interview between Jenny Flack and Lala Frazer, Project Co-ordinator, Smiths Creek Catchment Revegetation Project :

Jenny – Hi Lala.

It is a new walk for the Taieri Recreational Tramping Club, visiting the Future Forest & although I know a bit of the story through Vic & Tessa Mills,  I did still have a couple of questions. I am curious about the Citizenship slope, I think it’s a great idea and when I walked up that way I could see a couple of names. Do many people take advantage of this, as somewhere to plant their trees ?

Lala – New citizens generally opt to plant there if they are renting or do not intend to stay in Dunedin. We encourage them to bring the plant out and we assist them to plant the kowhai themselves with family and friends. Then give them the GPS.

Jenny – Are there also “ordinary” trees planted there ? When was this started?

Lala – Revegetating the Smiths Creek Catchment began in 2012. And we began accepting donations in people’s names right from the beginning. A lot of the trees have been donated by grant organisations, but there are individual donors named on trees throughout the site. (Previous to 2013 we had planted the Stewarts Creek Catchment on the other side of the Divide going down from Highcliff Road to Hoopers Inlet, but without individually donated trees).

Janny – I also saw some poles with white tape around them,  no numbers, no trees, are they marking something else.

Lala – They should have numbers (unless it has worn off) but a white ribbon normally marks a tree that has not survived – either died or disappeared, occasionally because it has been smothered and not got enough light which is the reason we try and release them for at least 3 years.

Jenny – The codes on the tree markers often look quite self explanatory, like a year etc. but when I went up into the Elizabeth Regina Slope or a little way past it some poles just had a number on them. I guess I’m asking can you briefly explain the system to me .

Lala –Each tree is now allocated a number in the year it is planted. This is important for monitoring survival to feed back to grant organisations and give us feedback on the best place to plant specific species. Then the donor is added. The white labels give year planted, donor and tree # in that order. eg ’24 Flack 386. Duncan has numbered all the 2023 trees above the Elizabeth Regina seat and allocated the donors but is waiting on the labels to arrive so that he can put all three details on the stakes. FYI – Vic Mills was interviewed by STUFF  for Seniors for Climate Action. He stated that if you cannot go out and plant trees, you should be donating the money to allow others to do that.  A reader of the Sunday Times got in touch and offered to donate a tree for every year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.  We planted Lancewoods (lances) at the top of the grove, and kowhai to represent her crown.  Vic subsequently built the Elizabeth Regina seat with her birth and death dates and named the track to it the Elizabeth Regina Track.

Jenny – When did you first start planting around Smiths Creek? 

Lala – The first fencing and planting was done in 2012.  The First Tributary was fenced in 2015 and the area below the Bacon Track in 2016. The 2nd Tributary was fenced in 2022. We shall be planting there for a few more years, before we need to fence a further area.  We can cope with planting (and subsequent releasing) of approximately 1500 trees per year, but this year, unless we get more donations, we may be planting less than 1,000.

Jenny – Such an amazing project & lovely to see the variety of people you have volunteering at different times. Maybe someone will get inspired after our visit. Thankyou for all you’ve done in that area. I think reading about the planting, the volunteers, the fund raising, the trees, insects, fish has made me realise I often think quite narrowly when I hear about tree planting, I just think about trees & birds but there’s so much more to it !

Lala – Carbon offsetting has now been added to the need for planting! It costs us about $20 to plant a tree (for the preparation, the seedling, the protector, the fertiliser tablet, the stake, the label and the wire pegs to hold down the weed mats – which are biodegradable jute coffee sacks free from Greggs).  Of course it is DCC land so any trees should be there in perpetuity. (Planting a grove of trees to mark a big 0 birthday is popular). The land is managed by the Hereweka Harbour Cone Management Trust and STOP has a Memorandum of Understanding with them to revegetate the two catchments. Regular working bees are Tuesday and Sunday mornings starting at 9.30am. At the moment we are creating a Tree Trail with the names of the trees so people can identify them.  This is to upskill the Broad Bay school children, but I suspect it will be popular with others too. Thanks for your interest. Kind regards, Lala.

Jenny Flack