Column by Daran Ponter – Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council
Every winter, with the help of volunteers, Greater Wellington plants hundreds of thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses in our parks, alongside our rivers and across the whenua.
This is all part of our Recloaking Papatūānuku initiative, which is a grand vision for long-term restoration. Areas that were once barren and lacking in biodiversity will, over time be enveloped in a vibrant green ‘cloak’ of native vegetation. Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) will reclaim her rightful beauty, and our park ecosystems will thrive.
In our parks we aim to work collaboratively with mana whenua and communities, to shape and create parks that deliver conservation, recreation and community benefits.
As such, we have been working alongside volunteer groups in this mahi, such as Ngahere Korowai who have been planting in Belmont Regional Park since 2022, to cloak the hills behind Porirua East, with the Aotearoa Pasifika Men’s Group.
We also organise community planting days around the region during winter, that help make the places we live and play become more beautiful. This planting also increases and improves habitats for wildlife, helps prevent soil erosion, and improves water quality, making this fun community day, a gift to future generations.
There will be one of these planting days on Sunday 20 July at Battle Hill Farm Forest Park. There is no experience needed to take part, and Greater Wellington staff will be there to help you with everything you need to know. There are different tasks to be done, so there is something for everyone get involved in.
Battle Hill is our only regional park that is a working farm and is a great place to introduce kids to farmyard hens, look for sheep, and visit the woolshed where sheep are shorn. If you need another reason to head along, there will be a BBQ afterwards for the helpers to say thanks.
The focus of restoration planting in Battle Hill is wetland and waterway protection, bush fragment protection and enhancement through plantings, and ecological links for wildlife.
Areas in the park with natural springs will also be further protected and restored. There are many wetland gullies and native vegetation fragments offering ideal opportunities for protection and habitat connections. Between 2022 and 2024 we partnered with Porirua City Council to restore some of this area with over 50,000 native plants.
All of this work is truly invaluable to the progress of Recloaking Papatūānuku. Between 2021 and 2024, Greater Wellington has planted over 800,000 native plants across 343 hectares of formerly grazed areas in the regional parks and we plan to continue planting at a rate of about 50-70 hectares per year for the next few years.
If you want to get involved on a more regular basis, there are plenty of volunteer groups for planting and pest trapping that operate in our regional parks and are always keen for more hands to make the work lighter.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this recloaking so far, and those of you who do in the future. You are helping to grow a thriving region for future generations.
Daran Ponter
Council chair – Greater Wellington