The following actions and outputs have been achieved across July at Te Hōnonga a Iwi Restoring Rosedale Park:
- We celebrated Matariki at the Te Hōnonga a Iwi - 35 representatives joined Richard Nahi and North Harbour Hockey Association to celebrate and reflect. This year the communications team: Sam Weston, Ashley Han and Sheryl Blythen designed and produced a sustainable sign for the restoration with support from Rotary Albany who generously sponsored $4000 for the permanent feature at Te Hōno. Richard supported the sign’s text development and the purchase of a stunning rock from Northland. Richard kindly arranged for whānau from Northland to bless the rock ahead of its journey south. His vision for the rock is that it will be a Pou Whenua for the restoration, and Rosedale Park. A symbol of safety for tamariki, rangitahi and whānau who use the park. The Pou calls visitors to the restoration and the park to uphold the values of safety and enable young people to develop their sense of belonging there. Guests at the celebration included Local Board member Urzra Casuri Balouch, Michael Belgrave Chair, Rotary Albany and other Rotary Albany members, community and business members and representatives from NHHA. Following the ceremony, we planted 50 natives gifted by local nursery guru, Nicholas Mayne and plants that Jan Knight, Greenwich Gardens, had cared for the year following the 2022 Planting season. NHHA hosted guests for speeches and refreshments after the ceremony. We thanked Sophie Haine and Lavender Feng for their incredible youth leadership as they step down from their roles. We also farewelled Massey University academic Cadey Korson, as she departs with her whānau to return to America to be with family. Sophie and Cadey are foundation members of Te Hōnonga a Iwi and have both contributed vast value to the project. We all wish Lavender, Sophie and Cadey well in their future and look forward to welcoming them back in due course.
- Cadey completed her final research interview with Richard Nahi ahead of her departure and begins production work with her feature length documentary on Te Hōnonga a Iwi social value chain.
- Sam Weston, Graphic Designer, designed the sign and arranged for the QR code on the sign to enable visitors direct access to our website. Sam is the talented person behind all our fliers and adverts we send. Thank you so much Sam for bringing the work to life and for enhancing the communications!
- Sheryl continues to devise and publish feature pieces that highlight pillars of the project each month. Thank you very much for your time and ongoing investment online and at the restoration site.
- Sarah Colin, Project Statistician, developed a teaching tool to improve our microscopy workshops especially for the intermediate aged school students.
- Schools are stretched now and as such we have placed Te Hono study day and senior microscopy teaching sessions on hold until schools are in a more comfortable position to take more on. We continue to appreciate our partnerships with each school.
- We thank Anna Harrison, Sustainable Schools, Auckland Council for her support in getting the study day ready to present. Anna has also linked Te Hono in with another local school. These actions enable Te Hono to have the backbone it needs to perform and helps to drive up our sustainable capability.
- We are reconnecting with the Montessori following a change in management and with the team at Wairau Valley Special School who return to site early August!
- A local restoration company caught a second wild cat that was taken for urgent assessment to Albany Veterinary Hospital. Vets assessed the cat for microchip and her wellbeing and managed the process of determining if the cat was domesticated, wild or feral. We are dependent upon the vets professional expertise to help us get cats back to the owners or regimes if possible. Huge thanks to both businesses for their prompt caring and professional work while helping the cats.
- We thank Jan Knight, older adult leader for her work across the year. While Greenwich Gardens is under construction, we will hold on asking more from Jan at this point. We hope to introduce a new restoration pillar in conjunction with a Youth leader, plant specialists, seed whakapapa, a primary school, and a retirement home as we begin to design and develop our own bespoke restoration nursery.
- Landscape Solutions (via Ventia) completed their first low mow of the extension early this month. Businesses are busy and Landscape Solutions and Ventia already work hard in our community. To fit in mowing 2000m2, twice is no small task. We are humbled by business stakeholders stretching hard to make restoration contributions happen. Thank you to Jonathan and Matthew for making such a great effort in time-critical periods. Once the second mow takes the kikuyu to the soil level, we are set to plant and sow our cover crops.
- Nicholas Mayne has gifted well over 70 healthy natives from his nursery. The special piece here is that these are trees that have strong local genetic stock and they are specimens that we did not have access to without Nicholas’s vision and generosity. Thank you, Nick. You work tirelessly to generate local biodiversity from excellent seed whakapapa principles. Look out for Matai, Hangi Hangi, Kotukutuku and Puriri!
- Local conference business Brightstar came for their second staff working bee. Eight staff members, together with Te Hōnonga a Iwi plant pest/moth plant guy Tony Cunningham got stuck in and removed the growing stands of woolly nightshade, a pest that we do not ask youth to remove. With time up their sleeves, they planted 20 more natives and emptied another reactor, presenting us with more bioorganic compost to plant and sow cover crops with! Fantastic work Brightstar! Thank you all. Brightstar’s education fund is also enabling us to invest $1500 into developing and publishing our first education pieces for the website. This is the final piece in the Pou Whenua puzzle, where the QR code on the sign will link our helpers and members of the public to educational information about bioorganic, regenerative agriculture, business sustainability management, project carbon sequestration and decarbonising strategies and initiatives.
- Tony Cunningham helps at many working bees and behind the scenes to ensure that all the action can take place. He often spends hours at the site managing the moth plants. This month Tony, Rhiannon (UWEN) and Rosie, community helper went to collect 1000 natives from the nursery at Paremoremo Prison. Men and staff work hard to produce very healthy natives for the community to plant. We are very grateful for their mahi and respect the time and resources that have been put into providing us with this year’s plant stock. Thank you all for the part you’ve played in this piece. Special thanks to Trees that Count for linking us in with Bill at Paremoremo
- Dan Marrow and his Auckland Council colleagues have worked hard to clear the public access path from Volkner Place. We understand there is potential for a public path to be installed and will link visitors to the restoration, past the Pou and to the bridge. Dan is frantic at this time of year supporting a lot of restoration action across the Shore. Te Hononga a Iwi borrows equipment we need for our working bees as part of increasing circularity of carbon within the project. We are aware this places greater pressure on Dan to meet our requests for gear on a weekly basis during winter. We appreciate his commitment to the principles of circularity and thank Auckland Council for their ongoing support.
- Youth leaders Jerry and Milo continue their monthly work managing nut grass seeds, palm grass seeds, and other pest plants. Often, we see youth leaders coming to the working bees and other events too, thank you so much Ceinwen, Milo, and Alicia for your mahi across several aspects of Te Hono.
- The water quality assessment and general project Health and Safety plans have been updated for the following year now.
- We are now looking for a new Animal Pest Youth Leader and a Seed Whakapapa and small Nursery Youth Leader. Please contact us on hello@restoringrosedalepark.org.nz if you would like to be involved in this way.
- We have placed an entry for the Sustainable Business Network Environmental Impact Award and for the Business North Harbour Environmental Excellence Award category. We will inform stakeholders of any outcomes.
- We have held two community working bees this month, partnering with Rangitoto College. Around 50 young people attended these working bees where we began raking biomass for the reactors, planted more than 100 plants and undertook some releasing. Rangitoto College students continue to be huge investors in the project, and we know we could not achieve what we have without their leadership. Thank you!
- The good folk from Stormwater360 returned for their third business working bee in a year. Every time we ask them to undertake some of the hardest mahi at the site. This working bee was no different. They wasted no time getting in amongst the blackberry, digging it out from the source. They rounded their visit off planting a bare patch by the bioreactors. Top people at Stormwater360! Thank you again.
- This month we are supporting UWEN with their regional strategic planning document and KPIs. UWEN continue to offer us expertise, resources, networking opportunities, help on the ground, advertising support and education. Many restorations in the area organise their funding through the UWEN umbrella as well. We meet monthly as members of the steering committee and monthly as Rail (Banded Rail) Trail members.
- Albany Senior High School Impact team have held three working bees at the restoration this month. With their team of nine students, they have sorted emptying the reactor, weeded, planted and made cover crop seed rockets for the kindy kids and Wairau Valley Special School youth to throw across the new extension. These students walk to site and are valued members of the project. Thank you to you all for what you’ve achieved in July.
- Untangled Landscapes has devised the 2023 Winter Cover crop mix. This includes Plantain (when available), Balansa Clover, Mustard, Oats, Annual Rye/Afterburner, Chicory, Radish, Buckwheat, Birds Trefoil, Phacelia and a pinch of Cosmo for good measure! If you have a chance to work alongside Matt or Svea on site, take time to ask why he chose this combination this year. Words that include insectary, colonators, legumes, nitrogen fixers, smother crop, long tap roots and decompactors, fumigants, anti-root eaters will be spoken about. There is so much to learn from our Te Hono people. Enjoy time finding out more about our cover crops if you can.
- We are fortunate to have our bird expert and bird photographer able to do some more mahi at the restoration. James Gow has taken some incredible imagery of the wildlife in the restoration. Thank you for your help James!
- We have updated the membership data base so it continues to be current.
- Real thanks to all our stakeholders for their loyalty and inspirational work at Te Hono.
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