Free native plants are on offer to Lower Hutt residents as part of Hutt City Council’s Mouri Tupu: Planting for the Future initiative.

Mouri Tupu is driven by Mayor Campbell Barry who pledged to have 114,000 native trees and shrubs - one for each of the city’s residents - planted by the next council election in 2025. So far, 60,658 have been planted.

To grow that number further, Council has launched a plant register so any Lower Hutt household can apply for up to five free native plants for their own backyard or community area.

Pre-ordered plants can be picked up between 10am-2pm from Avalon Park on Saturday 17 August, or Hikoikoi Reserve on Sunday 25 August. There will be up to 1000 plants available from each site. Proof of being a Lower Hutt citizen, such as a utlilities bill or library card, must be presented on the day.

You can order your plants for collection on 17 August here and for collection on 25 August here.

Mayor Campbell Barry says an important aspect of Mouri Tupu - Planting for the Future is all of us playing our part.

"It’s up to us all to share the mahi - that's why we’re gifting native plants to Lower Hutt residents.

"We’ve started this community campaign well with good turnout at our planting days in Wainuiomata and Stokes Valley, but we want to see that energy carried on at home."

This year’s winter planting season got off to a great start in early July with 10,000 natives planted at York Park in Moerā, Delaney Park in Kōraunui/Stokes Valley, and Leonard Wood Park in Wainuiomata.

Alongside that, with support from Enviroschools and contractors Native Solutions, tamariki from Arakura School braved the rain to help plant 400 trees at Arakura Park, contributing to a total of 1800 new plants in the park.

Some of the comments heard from tamariki included:

• "I will bring my grandkids here to show them that I planted these trees."
• "I'm not going to have kids when I grow up, but I will walk my dog here to look at the trees."
• "I want Wainuiomata to be a good place for people to live and trees give us oxygen so we are helping to keep people alive."

The Mouri Tupu programme has a budget of $250,000.

Mouri Tupu - our name

The name Mouri Tupu was gifted to the project by Kaanihi Butler- Hare, Tumuaki Māori at Hutt City Council.

Mouri is the life force or energy present in everything; not just living things like animals or plants, but also inanimate objects, places, and man-made items. This energy is nurtured and grown, or neglected and stunted, depending on our interaction with and care for the energy. Tupu refers to the early stages of the plant life cycle and encompasses the whole process of growth itself.

Mouri Tupu is our way of recognising that everything has the potential to grow and thrive, powered by the energy that flows through all things, and sustained by our interaction and care of it. This is why we are committed to ensuring a community in which everyone thrives; and we can only thrive if our environment is suitable.

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