The Maraetotara Tree Trust
Planting native trees offers many benefits for all New Zealanders. We know that it is possible to manage planted indigenous trees to improve biodiversity, protect riparian areas, enhance the landscape and store carbon.
In partnership with the Regional Council the Maraetotara Tree Trust are working to remove non-native trees, fence off a two to ten metre wide strips along the banks and replant these areas with native plants to establish a green corridor along the full length of the river, providing a home for native plants and wildlife. In recent years the Maraetotara River has suffered increased degradation from stock pollution, willow tree infestation, and general lack of care of the river margins.
The Maraetotara Tree Trust is a registered charitable trust formed 2003 to restore, protect and enhance the 35 kilometres of the Maraetotara River and its banks from the headwaters in the Maraetotara Valley until it reaches the sea at Te Awanga. At our nursery in Farmlet Road, Hastings upwards of 6000 native trees and plants are raised each year, grown exclusively from seed collected in the Maraetotara catchment area.