A series of public events will be held around Tairāwhiti in coordination with Parks Week from 7 – 15 March.

Parks Week brings together hundreds of organisations across New Zealand and Australia to celebrate the vital role parks play in creating liveable cities and thriving communities.

This year, based on the five ways to wellbeing, Parks Week will focus on how spending time in our parks and open spaces positively influences our wellbeing.

Council has partnered with Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti to hold a Pop-Up Play event at Puawaitanga Park at Ruatoria on 13 March from 3pm.

There will be activities and a free barbeque, alongside the new play equipment that was installed at the park in January.

Rongoa – a Maori medicine eco-sourcing workshop with Whaia Titirangi is also planned. Whaia Titirangi is a holistic partnership between Council and Ngati Oneone to care for the maunga.

Those interested should meet at the chain entrance to the Bowl Track (just before the summit on the city side) at 9am. Attendees will need to bring water, appropriate footwear and a few paper bags to put the seeds into. After the seed collection, the workshop will go to the Women’s Native Tree Project Trust to propagate the seeds – transport is required.

The Gisborne Iris Group and Council’s gardening team will also host an iris workshop at the Botanical Gardens at 10.30am on 11 March, sharing knowledge on how to separate and care for irises.

Parks Week is run in partnership by Recreation Aotearoa and Parks & Leisure Australia.

There are a number of other events happening locally during the week – visit the Parks Week website for more information.

© Scoop Media