5 July 2012

MEDIA RELEASE

Tutira School growing endangered plants for the next generation

Rayonier Matariki Forests has found a great home for seedlings of recently discovered and extremely rare native kakabeak plants at Tutira School in Napier.

As part of a Project Crimson mendous School Makeover won by the school, local staff from Rayonier Matariki Forests and students from Tutira School have created a kakabeak nursery on the school grounds which will be home to almost two dozen kakabeak plants with origins in the surrounding areas.

The plants, which have been grown by Plant Hawkes Bay from cuttings taken from recent local discoveries of the endangered kakabeak, will not only boost the plant population but also provide further genetic material to reintroduce into the wild.

Andy Fleming, Harvest Planning Manager of Rayonier Matariki Forests, has been involved in several recent discoveries of the kakabeak and is pleased to see new generations taking an interest in their ongoing survival.

“The kakabeak is such an important plant to the Napier Hawke’s Bay region. It once grew here in abundance and currently occurs naturally only from northern Hawke’s Bay to East Cape. So for the children of Tutira School to have an opportunity to not only care for their own kakabeak plants, but to also aid in the repopulation of the species in the region we believe is really special,” he says.

“Because the kakabeak is selective in terms of where it will flourish, the plants we have used at Tutira School are from the region and to be used in the region. It’s a great story to show how local communities can be a part of generation after generation of new growth, and one that Rayonier Matariki Forests will continue to support.”

Saturday’s mendous School Makeover saw over 100 students, teachers and members of the wider Tutira community taking part in an extensive makeover to convert a previously out of bounds area in a native planting area. As well as the kakabeak nursery, the makeover included a chicken coup and an edible plants garden for fruit and vegetables.

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