About 100 natives — including beech, kowhai and ribbonwood — were planted by about 36 volunteers last Sunday beside part of the Wharehuanui Trail near Arthurs Point.
The idea was seeded by Queenstowner Pete Oswald.
‘‘I always wanted to, when I’m really old, have my own forest to walk through, but we don’t own any land.
‘‘When looking around I saw big swathes of ‘dead’ land on the side of the QTT cycle trails — one site in particular near our current rental looked very appropriate.’’
Oswald also sees the project as an adjunct to his business, Little Difference, where customers buying stationery, like greeting cards, have one tree planted in Madagascar or Kenya for every purchase.
For his first site he has an agreement from the private landowner.
He also has support from QTT and the local council, and is partnering with Whakatipu Reforestation Trust, which is supplying the plants and protective covers.
On the first site alone, he says there is scope for about 6000 plants, which could take four years to plant out.
Oswald says his next site is possibly alongside Carry On trail, below Coronet Peak.
‘‘We see this as the start of [planting] all the trail margins throughout the Whakatipu Basin, so there’s possibly thousands of hectares.’’
To make that happen, he is hoping his template can be picked up by others.
