Group gains recognition

GREEN TEAM: The Birkdale-based Kaipatiki Project picked up a highly commended placing at this year's Auckland Regional Council sustainable environment awards.

Relevant offers

Kaipatiki Project recently picked up a highly commended placing in the Auckland Regional Council's sustainable environment awards.

They were finalists in the community category for the awards, which recognise and celebrate outstanding environmental achievement in the Auckland region. There were 51 finalists in seven different categories.

Kaipatiki Project is the environment centre of the North Shore, focusing on forest restoration, environmental education and community involvement in conservation.

Last year, with the help of more than 500 volunteers, the project planted 10,000 trees and removed 700 bags of weeds and rubbish from Witheford and Eskdale reserves. Only 50 went to landfill and they grew thousands of seedlings at its native plant nursery that will be planted later this year.

Kaipatiki Project operates sustainably by composting the majority of weeds pulled from reserves for use in its nursery and teaching gardens, and does not use chemicals in any of its reserve or stream maintenance work.

This year they aim to plant more trees, attract people to guided bush-walks in their local reserves, enrol more participants on their composting and gardening courses and increase the number of volunteers.

Visit kaipatiki.org.nz or call 4821172.

- © Fairfax NZ News