Trees For Survival

We believe the key to creating sustainable environments for the future is educating and involving the younger generations. We team up with Trees For Survival to help schoolchildren make a difference.

Trees For Survival is a national environmental education programme. Kids grow and plant native trees to restore natural, biodiverse habitats and help landowners revegetate erosion-prone land and improve stream flow and water quality.

Ararimu School students getting ready with spades for a morning's tree planting
Ararimu School students equipped with spades and gloves get prepared to plant native species on riverbanks.

For more than a decade, we and Auckland Rotary have provided local Hūnua schools (Paparimu, Hūnua, Ararimu, Ardmore and Clevedon) with thousands of trays of native seedlings. The pupils raise the seedlings over a year, then plant them at local rural properties. 

The main species schools are planting through Trees For Survival are mānuka, harakeke (flax), tī kōuka (cabbage tree) and karamū. These species are particularly tough and hardy, so they effectively help protect against erosion on steep sections of land.

Ararimu School students and parent volunteers getting their hands dirty while planting native species on riverbanks together.
Watercare volunteer helps Ararimu School student plant a native tree on the riverbanks of a Hūnua tributary waterway.

Our staff regularly volunteer to take part in the planting programme, and you can too. If you're interested in signing your school up, volunteering as an individual, or putting your land forward for a regeneration project, register your interest via the Trees For Survival website.