Local schools celebrate Arbor Day

Media Release
13 June 2008

Local schools celebrate Arbor Day

Local schools celebrated Arbor Day last week by planting 200 trees at various Manukau City Council reserves.

Community board members, park rangers and park contractor HEBs also attended.

Parks ranger Trudy McNie says, “We plant on a reserve in each ward of the city, something we do every year to celebrate Arbor Day. This year we celebrated World Environment Day at the same time.”

Arbor Day is an annual day dedicated to tree planting and celebrating New Zealand’s unique biodiversity.

The aim of planting native trees is to improve the environment by planting native plants, reducing weed infestations and providing wildlife habitat in the local communities where children live and play.

“We want to introduce residents to their local parks and educate them about the important role of trees in the community and how they can be involved in helping to protect their local environment. This is a great opportunity to make a connection between people and the environment. This time of year is also Matariki, again another reason to celebrate planting trees,” says Trudy.

“This is a very busy time for schools so I appreciated their enthusiasm and participation. The kids really seemed to enjoy the experience.”

Schools who participated were Brookby School, Macleans Primary, Mangere Central School, Papatoetoe West Primary School, Point View School, Tangaroa College, Wakaaranga Primary, and Weymouth Intermediate.

Bottled water and a piece of fruit were given out at the end of the planting, along with stickers and certificates.

ENDS

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