The Bream Head/ Te Whara Conservation Trust (BHCT) has just reached a major milestone. On Sunday the 16th of June, with the support of a large group of volunteers, the Trust planted the final 2,500 trees, fulfilling an agreement with The One Billion Trees Programme to grow and plant 10,000 trees.
Tom Grinsted, the ranger in charge of the BHCT revegetation program says, “The myrtle rust outbreak stopped us from transporting trees from regional nurseries into the Reserve. The solution was to start our own nursery and that paid off big time. Over the last two years we have grown 10,000 trees from seed all sourced within the Bream Head Scenic Reserve.”
This year an area at Home Bay, part of the Reserve, was planted. “It is primarily planted with mānuka and kānuka. We use them to create an environment where over time other native species will naturally establish”, Tom explains, “This approach relies on birds and wind to spread seeds from other species in the Reserve which will in the end take over, creating a diverse and resilient forest.
The Trust, with the help of the community, plans to continue planting grass areas within the Reserve, restoring the natural ecology and increasing habitat for our local biodiversity.