Te Mata Park Trust’s Schools for Trees programme has been named a winner in the Green Flag Award International “Best of the Best” Awards.
The Green Flag Award is recognised as the international benchmark for parks and green spaces.
The programme won the award for Best Local Community/Grassroots Project, placing it among just four winners selected from entries across more than 20 countries.
Since launching in 2021, Schools for Trees has connected hundreds of local students with hands-on conservation work. Each of the nine participating schools has its own plot within the Park where students plant native trees and return throughout the year to care for them, creating an ongoing sense of stewardship and helping grow the next generation of kaitiaki for Te Mata Park.
The schools involved to date are: Hastings Girls’ High School, Havelock North High School, Havelock North Intermediate, Lucknow School, Te Mata School, Havelock North Primary, Te Whai Hiringa, Hastings Christian School and Hereworth.
Carl McClean, International Development Manager for the Green Flag Award, described Schools for Trees as, “an innovative, low-cost model for building future environmental stewards while restoring the native flora and fauna of this iconic New Zealand landscape’, noting that the project demonstrated how significant environmental outcomes can be achieved without large budgets.
Te Mata Park Trust Chair, Jon Lewin commented: “We are deeply grateful to our schools, Trees That Count and Hawke’s Bay Foundation for their support and belief in this programme. Their contribution has helped create a model that is not only restoring Te Mata Park’s native biodiversity but inspiring the next generation of environmental guardians.”
The Schools for Trees programme forms part of Te Mata Park Trust’s wider restoration efforts, which have resulted in more than 65,000 native trees being planted throughout the Park since 2020.
The Trust is actively looking for funding for the Schools for Trees programme and welcomes enquiries from individuals, businesses, and funders.
Congratulations – so good for the kids and gives them a great outlook for the environment – nice to see good news stories amongst the continual horror stories