Planting in Zealandia
During September, a small group of hardy rangers and volunteers trekked out to the very far south end of the valley to plant podocarps and other key plant species, including mataī, nīkau, hīnau, and others. The team, especially plantastic leader Ranger Tia, flexed their botanical biceps to an unbeleafable 🍃 degree to transport the trays of seedlings up and down tricky transects to reach the designated planting zones. The team knocked our stalks 🧦 off by managing to complete this year’s planting of two separate sites in one long and very muddy day!
OK that's enough puns...we promise.
While generally we let the forest regenerate by itself, each year the conservation team does some planting to facilitate the establishment of species that would not otherwise come back into the sanctuary, including podocarps and rare and threatened plant species. In addition, podocarp planting is always complemented with other emergent tree species to promote a more diverse canopy cover in the future. This is a key part of our 500-year vision, so we are rooting for these wee seedlings to grow tall and become part of the Zealandia canopy that will be enjoyed by the valley’s inhabitants hundreds of years from now.
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