Turning the town green
Thousands of people are out planting trees on Arbor Day today in Taupō, with heavy rain last night at least providing good soil moisture for new plantings.
By Dan Hutchinson
About 2000 people will be out planting trees this week for the annual Greening Taupō day.
The event coincides with Arbor Day on June 5, with a reserve day set aside on Friday in case fine weather doesn’t come to the party.
Kids Greening Taupō lead education coordinator Rachel Thompson says they will be out planting 3000 trees on land next to Tauhara Rd, opposite the BP service station, from 10am-2pm.
The event has grown hugely over the years, from a simple Arbor Day planting event to a festival atmosphere with about 50 organisations setting up stalls, food and entertainment on offer.
Pest control company Epro sends a staff member out to catch deer, which is turned into sausages on the day and Jude Messenger from The Bistro will be providing a huge pot of soup.
DJ Alexi will provide the commentary and atmosphere while other generous sponsors ensure the day is a success, including providing prizes for the raffles.
The event is run by Greening Taupō and Kids Greening Taupō and is a chance for school children to dress up in green, collect donations, plant a tree and have a good time.
“What happened was Arbor Day planting became so popular that we ended up with too many people and not enough trees. Even if you have thousands of trees, if you have 1000 people, that doesn’t go far.
“It has grown and grown so it has got to the point where we are expecting 2000 people and we will have 3000 trees, so we just say, ‘come and plant one or two trees and then enjoy the activities.”
She said the event was open to the public and not just for children, so she encouraged people to pop down in their morning tea or lunch break, plant a tree and then “enjoy the vibes” for half an hour.
“I think it is something that Taupō should be really proud of. I haven’t heard of anything else like this going on.”
Special guests will be there to entertain and educate, along with a huge range of conservation experts and local businesses running free activities.
The planting is part of a long-term vision of creating native corridors into Taupō to bring native wildlife to urban Taupō and link up the remaining stands of native bush.
All money raised allows Greening Taupō and Kids Greening Taupō to continue with the work that they do.
Collectively, the two organisations have been responsible for planting more than 280,000 native trees in Taupō and there are more planting days planned in 2025.
The two organisations provide free environmental education, native plants, events, and professional development to teachers at early childhood education centres and schools in Taupō, Reporoa, and Tūrangi.
The are 45 schools and ECE centres that have restoration plantings supported by Kids Greening Taupō.