Marlborough children plant natives

Left to right: Janice Tukurua (mum), Tamanui Tera Tukurua (son) aged three, Jack Stevens aged three, Peter Yealands.

Yealands Estate joined forces with children from Seddon School and Awatere Playcentre to plant 1,500 native trees and flaxes to mark World Environmental Day (WED) on Friday 5th June, 2009.

The team from Yealands Estate, NZ’s largest fully sustainable winery, invited 110 students from Seddon School aged five to 13 and 20 preschoolers from Awatere Playcentre to get involved in the planting, plus 30 parents and teachers.

Owner and founder of Yealands Estate Peter Yealands, sees WED as a time to draw attention to climate change and the issues facing our environment.

“Raising awareness is of course important but what’s more crucial is getting youngsters involved. It’s their planet and these kids are the next generation that can make a difference. It was great to see them get stuck in – they did a great  job,” says Mr Yealands, a long-term advocate of enviromental pactises.

The students planted Mountain Flax, Lance Wood and Akeake on the western side of the winery. The new plantings are in addition to 20 wetland areas which have been developed throughout the estate to preserve the indigenous native species.

For Seddon School principal Tania Pringle, getting involved with this activity at Yealands Estate was a great opportunity as it links in with the school’s beliefs.

“When considering the issues our students will face during their lifetime, our theme for this term is ‘what’s the world playing at?’ This can be applied to many things and in this case it’s the environment,” said Ms Pringle.

“For our current students, this is the first time they’ve been involved in a planting of this scale – it’s a great experience for them,” she says.

In honour of the  children’s effort, Yealands Estate has erected a plaque to commemorate the inaugural planting which they anticipate will become an annual event.