Conservation Volunteers–August 6-10, 2012

A great team of Conservation Volunteers brought us within striking distance of our planting goal for the year with a great effort.

The team arrived on Monday morning and included Ryo, Shogo and Motoharu from Japan, Fairy from China, Brett from New Zealand and Aude from France.  The team was led by Ashleigh Carden of CVNZ.

In spite of having to deal with a couple of rainy days, the team managed to plant over 1,300 trees, doing  in fill planting in areas that had previously been planted. To give you an idea of the conditions the team had to contend with, when they arrived, it was bright and sunny as we had introductions and a briefing and the group had lunch.

By the time lunch was over, it was pouring rain so the team had to don rain gear and before heading out to work.

The first task was to get some plants up to the planting area.

And once we’d done that, the sun came out as we went up to do some work.

For the rest of the week, the team contended with variable weather, but they kept on planting and always with a smile!

In addition to all their hard work, the team also had some time to explore a local beach and to work on a jigsaw puzzle.  Brett started it but completed it with  assistance from Shogo, Motoharu and Ryo.

The group also took time out to help Fairy plant a kahikatea as a memorial for her beloved father.

And on Friday morning, Kenya Calder, an ecology student at Unitec who is doing a portion of her field practicum work at CUE Haven joined the team and assisted with the planting.

Before leaving the field on Friday, the team planted a celebration totara to commemorate their successful week at CUE Haven.  Everyone took turns helping to plant the tree.

We want to thank to Kenya for joining us and helping out for the day.  And a big Thank You to Ashleigh and the team for all their hard work this week.  They were a great team to work with and we really appreciate the contribution they’ve made to CUE Haven and the planet.  Satisfait, Mon Yi, Shi Fuku,  Ka Pai!!

We look forward to all of you coming back to CUE Haven to see how your plants have grown!