Replant for Tomorrow
To ensure we can deliver power safely and reliably to our customers, our vegetation contractors remove trees and other vegetation that are growing too close to power lines, as trees in our lines can (and often do) cause power outages.
To balance out this removal of trees from around our network, in 2020 we launched our Replant for Tomorrow initiative.
Replant for Tomorrow sees us team up with different organisations from around our network to plant more native trees in the communities we work in.
We’re proud to be behind these community initiatives, and to be providing special assets for current and future generations living and visiting these regions. Find out more about some work we have done as part of this programme below:
For the past three years, we have partnered with Asplundh and Wild for Taranaki to redress the vegetation loss and help restore Taranaki’s biodiversity.
In 2020 and 2021, employees from Asplundh, Powerco and Wild for Taranaki headed out to Omoana (located East of Eltham) to plant 5000 trees in the reserve. This planting will help create corridors for native species to flourish and remain safe in their natural habitats.
Over the past three years, we have also contributed funding and staff to assist in restoring the ecological corridor of Waiwhakaiho River from Taranaki Maunga to the sea. The area is of particular significance to the local hapū whose tūpuna (ancestors) used the Waiwhakaiho for ceremonies, customary practices and kai. Over the years, habitat modification, loss of wetlands, water abstraction and poor fisheries management have led to the physical and spiritual decline of the river. Through planting, weed control, fencing and pest eradication we hope to help restore the habitat and improve migratory fish flow.
Tauranga
In June 2023, we teamed up with Tauranga City Council to plant over 1,700 trees in the Gordon Carmichael Reserve. 22 Volunteers from our Tauranga office and TCC parks team worked together to plant a variety of shrubs and small trees for the insects, fish and tuna (eels) that live in the reserve and for the community who visit it. This planting was a part of a larger project being delivered by the Tauranga City Council to plant and restore this special ecological area over the next 10 years.
Trees for Survival is a charitable trust that runs an environmental education programme for school children throughout the North Island. It aims to help tamariki make a practical difference to their environment and learn about conservation, revegetation, wetland restoration and protecting stream quality.
In 2021, we teamed up with Trees for Survival to bring tree planting to schools throughout the Coromandel, together working to restore natural biodiversity and habitats. This initiative saw us supporting Opoutere School, Te Rerenga School and Coromandel Area School to grow and plant native trees and along waterways and erosion prone hillsides. We’re also sponsoring Waihi Beach School, which has a planting site at Te Mata Reserve.
Here's what we achieved in 2023:
In 2022, we partnered with the Pokaiwhenua Catchment Group, which seeks to improve the water quality and biodiversity of the Pokaiwhenua Stream and its catchment area (including Duxfield Reserve).
Nearly 100 locals, farmers and school kids, as well as people from the South Waikato District Council, Downer, Farmlands, Fonterra and Powerco teamed up for a day of planting in the Duxfield Reserve in Putāruru, planting 4,500 plants in two hours. It was also a chance to educate the local community, particularly school children, about environmental protection.
Given Powerco projects in the area, such as the new 110kv transmission line between Arapuni and Putāruru, we wanted to show our support for our South Waikato community who are passionate about their local environment.
In 2023, staff from our Tauranga Office headed out to Duxfield Reserve to plant another 2000 trees.
With the support of the Greytown Community board and Greytown Tree Action Group, 30 trees were planted at O’Connor’s Bush at Greytown Memorial Park as part of the town’s Arbor Day celebrations, while two larger established trees were planted near the entrance to Greytown Cemetery. The groups teamed up in November to plant a further 550 trees on Waiohine Valley Road.