Media release for immediate distribution
22 April 2021
On 7 May 2021, 80 members of Christchurch’s Student Volunteer Army (SVA) will be piling into vans and heading to Nelson for a weekend of hard yakka.
Their first mission: to plant 1,000+ native trees along Neimann Creek in under three hours.
Breanna Greaney of SVA’s events team says the Army’s been involved in a number of planting activities in the past.
“We have a strong focus on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to improve life on the land,” she says.
“In Christchurch there’s a decent amount of green space but a lot of people just like to get out of the city and really work outside.”
The planting is supported by the Te Uru Rakau (Forestry NZ’s) One Billion Trees programme, coordinated locally by Tasman Environmental Trust. Spokesperson Julie Newell says the SVA’s offer came at the perfect time for Neimann Creek.
“It’s the one site that that we knew would be ready for planting on that date and at that scale,” she says. “Neimann Creek is a beautiful, spring-fed, super-clear creek where lots of work is happening to prevent it clogging with weeds and sediment, so these riparian plantings are important for the health of the creek and Waimeha/Waimea Estuary.”
She says the fact that the SVA’s help came unlooked-for is even better.
“Those guys just got out there and volunteered to do fantastic stuff,” she says. “Everybody knew about what they were doing after [the] Christchurch [earthquake] but who knew they were still getting out there, doing it?
“It’s wonderful.”
Over the same weekend, the SVA also plans to help out at Habitat for Humanity’s second-hand ReStore in Nelson and get involved in track-cutting with Keep Richmond Beautiful.
[ENDS]
CONTACT
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Julie Newell, Tasman Environmental Trust— 021 876 895
Niki Morrell, Bold Communications—027 8775 033 | 03 5484 684
Photo op: The SVA will be on site at Neimann Creek from 2:45pm to 5:30pm on Friday 7 May.
