Council and community boost conservation at Atiu Creek

Auckland Council has signed a partnership agreement with Conservation Volunteers New Zealand (CVNZ) for the restoration and development of Ātiu Creek Regional Park on the Kaipara Harbour near Wellsford. The agreement sees Auckland Council contribute $50,000 towards the Restore Ātiu Creek Ecology (RACE) project and acknowledges thousands of volunteer hours contributed by the CVNZ community. Council’s contribution is on top of a generous $99,000 grant from Foundation North towards the project. Cr Christine Fletcher, Chair of the Parks, Recreation and Sport Committee, said entering into partnerships with community volunteer groups was a critical part of council’s strategy to improve the amenity value of its public parks, which were among the best in the world. “I’m delighted that a leading-edge native plant nursery and cultivation centre will be established here,” she said. “Native trees and shrubs will be grown on site from locally gathered seeds and these new plants will be used to help revegetate the park.” “There is now a full time volunteer presence in the park with volunteers who live and work on site from Monday to Friday each week and opportunities for others to contribute to shorter term projects,” said CVNZ General Manager Andrew Gregg. “From this base, we will also be able to work with other partners across the Kaipara Region, particularly environmental groups and farm owners wishing to restore their reclaimed land back to native bush and improve water quality and biodiversity values. This allows a huge amount of progress to be made toward the environmental restoration of the region.” Work will begin immediately to take advantage of the summer weather and growing season.