Events
Friday 17 June 2011
Arbor Day Rescheduled Planting at LAKE NGATU / LAKE GEM
About 20 hardy souls turned out to mark Arbor Day with tree-planting at Lake Gem on Friday 3 June. A brisk wind and the threat of rain kept the schools away but a good 900 trees made it into the ground before the stinging rain drove all contenders into Paparore School, where tea and sausages soon revived them.
A second planting day has been scheduled for Friday June 17 and hopefully this will be a better day for the children to come and participate.
All are welcome to come and help on the rescheduled day.
When: Starting from 10am
Where: Meet at the south end of Lake Ngatu
Bring: Sturdy footwear. Spade if you have one.
Lunch will be provided by the team from DoC
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Far North launching World Wetlands Day 2011 : Celebrating 40 years of wetland protection
DOC invites you to join our celebration at dawn on 2 February 2011. As the sun rises over Lake Ngatu, 40 whimsical wetland creations will be revealed as World Wetlands Day 2011 is welcomed to New Zealand.
Ngai Takoto, the iwi that affiliate to Lake Ngatu, will host a blessing ceremony incorporating songs, kapa haka, prayers and artwork.
At the sound of the putatara (Conch shell), traditional kites and wetland creatures will be taken out onto the lake by waka, while woven emblems are released onto the lake. 40 flaxes will be planted to commemorate RAMSAR's 40th anniversary.
There will also be a special appearance from a mystery guest.
We want New Zealand to 'come to the party' so children involved in OSCAR programmes across the country are creating 40 wetland creatures to frame Lake Ngatu's beach. Everyone is also invited to send in photos, video clips and poems to share thoughts about wetlands. Entries will be posted on the DOC website which you can also visit for more information.
Friday 4 June 2010: Arbor Day planting
Community Planting at Lake Gem
This year is the 20th year anniversary of The Bushland Trust. As part of those celebrations we are having a special Arbor Day event at lake Ngatu. The Bushland Trust invites you to the Arbor Day celebrations at the new development at Lake Gem. Meet at the pine tree at the Southern end of Lake Ngatu between 10am and 2pm.
This is part of the Lake Ngatu Restoration plan, which will enhance the area for us all.
- Come and join in this worthwhile community event – even for an hour.
- Plant some trees.
- Pull out some weeds.
- Blessing of the trees.
- Sausage sizzle provided at the end (courtesy of the Dept of Conservation).
- Bring a spade, and your boots.
- Walk round the lake track and see the work done.
- Have some fun, and meet others.
Lake Gem is a small dune lake with a small outlet into Lake Ngatu. For a long time it has been very polluted from cattle and horse poo which has fed into Lake Ngatu in heavy rains. Juken New Zealand, the company that owns the land, has now fenced this lake and we will be planting the perimeter, to provide a natural filtration zone for the lake.
This is a really good lesson on environmental pollution and restoration which schools can see from the beginning of the process of recovery this year.
We have found that the most successful plan is to have small groups
with an adult digging and 4-6 children removing plants from the bags and
putting them in the holes.
For this reason could you bring with you as many spades as possible.
In order that we can ascertain the catering requirements and the trees
needed, can you please let Sarah Fountain know approximately how many
will be attending.
RSVP TO 09 406 7766 OR EMAIL- bushlandtrust@xtra.co.nz
by Friday May 28th.
We look forward to seeing you, and contributing to making this a really successful and fun day for everyone.
Arbor Day planting 2009
The 2009 event saw over 200 children from local schools and pre- schools, other community groups and local residents plant out seedlings and weed out small wattle seedlings. Once again the Dept of Conservation provided a barbecue for all the willing workers.
