A volunteer-driven environmental project in Cromwell has marked ten years of restoring native vegetation along Lake Dunstan and 10,000 plants in the ground.
The Mokihi Reforestation Trust, founded in 2016, has planted trees and shrubs across three sites — Richards Beach, the 45th Parallel carpark and the Bannockburn Bridge site, also known as Hoki Hoki Rerepai or Stuart Ferry.
All three sites are located along the Lake Dunstan cycle trail.
Trustee Shirley Calvert said each planting site presented its own unique obstacles.
"To improve survival rates, each plant is protected by a wire mesh cage and requires regular watering and ongoing care for several years."
Trustee Kristen Finucane said funding often covered plant purchases but did not always account for the broader costs involved in successful restoration such as protection and administration.
The trust had launched its Friends of Mokihi donations programme to assist with that, she said.
Watering plants remained one of the biggest challenges for the trust.
In response, two trustees had developed a solar-powered system that pumped water from Lake Dunstan into more than 20 storage drums at the Richards Beach site, she said.
Walkers and cyclists passing through were encouraged to use buckets provided to water nearby plants.
The new system was supported by Contact Energy, saving many trips filling up the water totes and driving them manually to site, Ms Finucane said.
After a planting session on Saturday, a celebration morning tea was held and trustee Richard Broadhead cut the cake. — Allied Media
