It was with a sigh of relief that the first planting day for the Park finally came together on the 7th August. Working alongside the Conservation Volunteers NZ and Christchurch City Council groups for a year to make sure Rotary was visible in this process has had its challenges.

Situated in the Dallington Loop Red Zone area the CCC had to negotiate over 40 parcels of land and involve iwi and other interested parties to bring this project to life.

We were joined by Russ Ballard, Chair of the Rotary Trees Trust and he explained the history to the people who turned up on the day as follows;

“Tree planting and creating green spaces in communities has been part of the DNA of the Rotary organisation since its inception in Chicago as a community services organisation over a hundred years ago. This tradition has been particularly strong in New Zealand.

2021 is the centenary of Rotary in New Zealand. As part of the centenary celebrations Rotary identified 3 major initiatives one of which ‘Trees, Trees, Trees’ aims to plant 1 million native trees over 3 years. This program builds on some notable Rotary projects including the Rotary Auckland Trees for Survival, which plants 200,000 trees a year through a schools-based program and Forests at the Heart of Wellington which has planted 100,000 trees in the city of Wellington

The Rotary Club of Wellington applied to Te Uru Rakau for funding to support the aims of the centenary project and was successful in getting funding to plant 200,000 native plants over two planting seasons. The Rotary Peace, Remembrance and Community Forest Trust was set up to administer the grant. The Trust funds up to 45% of the cost of planting projects and requires that a substantial part of the remaining costs are met by community volunteers. Conservation Volunteers NZ work with the Trust as project managers.

The Trust is currently funding 12 project sites from North Auckland to Otago involving the planting of over 220,000 plants. The Dallington landing site in the green spine is a flagship site for the Trust with its significance to the social, cultural and ecological fabric of Christchurch. It epitomises what the Trust is about – Peace, Remembrance and Community. The Trust is supporting the planting of 42,000 stems on this site. “

On the 7th of August over 150 people turned up – Rotarians and locals where 2,500 trees were planted in 90 minutes finishing with the D9970 District Governor, Nick Courtney and Past DG Arie Geerlofs managing the BBQ and talking with the locals.

If you want to know more go to www.rotarytrees.nz for updates and news.