Pine forest to native bush tender opening soon
It is hoped more birdsong will be heard across New Plymouth’s urban areas as the council opens a tender for the replacement of pine forests for native bush.
The New Plymouth District Council has begun to replace two hectares of ageing pine trees at Joe Gibbs Reserve in Inglewood in favour of native species.
Expressions of interest for the project will open in the next two weeks for six weeks when organisations can vie for the tender, a spokesperson for the council said.
Renee Davies, the council’s manager for strategic planning, said the project would work towards increasing the number of urban native forests in the district as part of the council’s planting our place programme.
“We’ll be doing a mix of planting of appropriate native species and, where possible, allowing for the cleared area to re-vegetate naturally as there is native forest right next to the site at Joe Gibbs Reserve,” Davies said. “We’ll be having a few planting days with local groups and also do weed control while the new plants get established, to help them along.
“The result will be a healthy native habitat that can be enjoyed by the community and our native wildlife.”
Work was expected to commence in six months and take eight weeks to complete.
The pine forest is part of land gifted to the council by a local farmer in 2018, as well as six-hectares of land purchased by the council in 2022 to restore native forest and wetland. Some of the land will also be used to establish a conservation centre for the council, Pukerangiora hapū and the East Taranaki Environment Collective.
As of March 2024, native plants covered 9% of New Plymouth District in its urban communities. Through the planting our place initiative, the council aimed to boost its coverage to 10% by covering a minimum of 34 hectares of urban native forest across the district. It was hoped that this would bring back birdsong and create healthier communities for tamariki, a spokesperson for the council said.