The Times is giving local youngsters who want to write stories – which we’ll publish on our website and in our new digital publication – the chance to join our new Junior Journalist initiative.
Here’s a report from Junior Journalist Alina Jiang.
Every year Community groups and local schools from the Howick area come together to help plant trees in the Mangemangeroa Reserve, and to restore native vegetation within the reserve.
Due to invasive weeds and wind damage the plants within this nature reserve are easily harmed, making it hard for them to spread seeds or regrow through the damage.
So the community’s combined work is also helpful to the reserve! Like they say, even one person’s work makes a big difference!
The Mangemangeroa is home to native New Zealand birdlife such as fantail, pigeon, tui and many other species.
The saltmarsh wetland also provides habitat for oysters, crayfish, shags and wader birds.
Please remember to ‘Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints’ is one of the quotes on the Mangemangeroa self-guide.
I attended last Saturday’s event, which began with a safety briefing, and then digging holes to plant shrubs that are native to New Zealand like the Manuka and Coprosma.
It was hard work-as we had to pull away at the dead grass to even let our shovels in.
My main job was delivering plants and equipment into the bush to the people inside so they could plant the trees while I went back and forth to get their items or give other helping children some support, as I held the spiky bushes and trees back for them so they could run down the hill.
When the originally flat landscape in front of us was covered in tiny trees we munched on freshly cooked sausages from barbecue and healthy orange juice to replace our tiredness with pride of how many trees we had worked together to plant.
It had been an exhausting morning for all of us as we all left tired.
Through hard-work the community groups (Friends of Mangemangeroa Society, Royal Forest & Bird Society and the Howick and Pakuranga Chinese associations) all played a hard-working role and planted more than 500 trees!
If you ever want to help, find a tree planting event and be ready to plant!
- Alina Jiang is in Year 6 at Owairoa Primary School
