About the Landowners:
Taharoa Trust
• Pat and Sue O’Brien were the first farmers of the area who decided to join the Whangawehi Catchment Management Group in 2012. They have fenced off nearly 1.5 km of stream and will be establishing over 22000 native trees. Pat and Sue have always been proactive farmers. Ten years ago, they retired and fenced off 30 ha of wetlands while increasing farm performances. Today, they are the drivers behind a farm product branding project. They have shown a real dedication and have a real story to tell.
Grandy Lake Forest
• Grandy Lake Forest embraced the group’s Kaupapa by signing the Memorandum of Understanding in 2012. As a forestry company, Grandy Lake Forest supports the group’s aspirations to work collaboratively towards more sustainable land use practices. Grandy Lake Forest funds part of this first combined riparian restoration project.
Project summary for 2014 :
Winter 2014 has been extremely challenging for this first restoration project. With a very wet winter access has been very difficult and at times impossible. The Whangawehi community and volunteers throughout Hawkes Bay have been quite supportive and came to help. During our first community planting days, we established 5000 native trees in one day. The total number of trees established so far is 16000. A big thank you to all the volunteers and contractors who helped out
Winter 2015 :
The initial goal was to establish at least 10000 native trees and develop a robust plant and pest programme in order to protect the trees and the birds that were starting to come back. This project is now completed with a total number of 36 000 native trees.
Whangawehi Catchment Management Group 