More than 70 natives have been planted at the Glendhu Wetland Wildlife Reserve in an initiative supported by the Challenge Wānaka Sports Trust (CWST). 

Eight CWST members donned their gardening gear and headed out to Glendhu Bay to complete the planting with Te Kākano Aotearoa Trust for what has become a long-running tradition.

“Every year, we try to organise a planting with the Challenge Wānaka team to plant the plants they make a donation towards,” Te Kākano Trust manager Loran Verpillot said. 

“It's important for us to be working with local organisations and businesses as we aim to connect the community with their land, so the more people involved in our projects the better.”

This year’s Challenge Wānaka event raised $750 for Te Kākano, a community-based native plant nursery that specialises in propagating plants of local origin and using these plants for localised native habitat restoration.

For every entry into the Challenge Wanaka Giesen Wine Corporate Challenge, a $50 donation was made to Te Kākano, and all athletes were given the option to donate at registration.

“Challenge Wānaka has been supporting Te Kākano for many years now,” Loran said.

“We are so grateful for this support. Like any charitable trust, we rely on donations, grants and sponsorship so any support is always very welcome.”

CWST’s new  event director Jane Sharman said the planting session provided a great chance to see the work Te Kākano is doing in the community.

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“The Glendhu Wetland is a beautiful place and we learnt how the natives planted there not only provide a habitat for wildlife, but also do an important job of filtering the waterways that feed into Lake Wānaka,” she said.

She confirmed CWST would support Te Kākano at next year’s Challenge Wānaka event, which will take place in February. 

“We look forward to continuing to support Te Kākano in the future," she said.

PHOTO: Supplied