Member Spotlight – Pātea Planting Trust

Community planting day at the Pātea River Walkway

The Pātea Planting Trust was established after the storms of March 2012 when pine forest came down along the Pātea River making way for the restorative planting in the area.  

Trust chair, Leicester Cooper, joined like-minded locals to form the Pātea Planting Trust with the goal of creating a corridor of indigenous flora with the long-term goal to foster a healthy biodiverse ribbon of bush along the Pātea River Walkway. 

Leicester wrote his masters thesis on how geomorphology can guide prioritisation in ecological restoration – using this background he wrote a comprehensive restoration plan for the site. The wider goal of the project was to bring iwi, schools, local businesses and the wider public together to invest in community environmental outcomes.   

The Pātea River Walkway is located on the western side of the lower reach of the Pātea 

River, which is approximately the last kilometre before reaching the sea. The pathway winds from the end of York St and climbs from a low river terrace up a bluff before meandering along an undulating sequence of dunes overlaying the silt/mudstone strata common of this region. There are geological challenges at the site, sedimentary rock, sea cliff drop-offs, and sand dunes nearer the river mouth. 

In the 12 years since its inception the Pātea Planting Trust members have dedicated immeasurable hours planting the walkway and adjacent open spaces. Through the years partnerships with local businesses and government organisations have provided plants and funding to the project. But the success is driven by voluntary hours of the trust members and worker efforts from the community. Our goal with member groups such as Pātea Planting trust is to invest Wild for Taranaki resources to tautoko and sustain the momentum of volunteer restoration efforts.  

Pātea Planting Trust Chair, Leicester Cooper with Danielle Gibas, Wild for Taranaki General Manager