With a little help from our friends

Friends of the Blade predator control group in Whakamārama received very welcome support during March from local friends who gave their time and raised money for the volunteer group.

Vitruvius, an engineering consultancy, schedules a day for their staff to donate volunteer hours around Tauranga Moana. This year, a crew of 13 staff from the local office helped tackle some of the maintenance that keeps the tracks and traplines clear and safe. They also took on the unglamorous job of taking out pest plants such as blackberry, African club moss and pampas grass.

Also, in March, Envirohub Tauranga ran a month of activities to celebrate Sustainable Backyards and boost many environmental projects around the Bay of Plenty. Event organiser from Envirohub, Te Ara Dirkse, drew together local musicians for a benefit gig at Astrolabe in Mount Maunganui.

The live music concert featured local Waihī Beach group Iz Waddid Iz and the galactic funk of Laughton Kora. Te Ara chose Friends of the Blade as the recipient of the fundraising from the concert. From a combination of donations online and ticket sales at the door, $1,680 was raised to help buy new traps for our work.

These generous contributions of human power and talent help boost the work of volunteers who battle to restore our bushy neighbourhood.

Anyone interested in joining a pool of enthusiastic predator control volunteers can contact us for more information by emailing friendsoftheblade@gmail.com

Our corner of the bush is close to town, our volunteers are well-supported, and you will find a welcoming community of like-minded people who love the environment.

Right: Vaughan Roberts, a senior advisor at Vitruvius in Tauranga, with members of the team who cut steps into steep and slippery sections of a track leading to a plateau in the bush. PHOTO: Supplied.