MAP / #REDTOGREEN / OLD KATE SHEPPARD SITE (FORMER RETIREMENT VILLAGE)
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It’s so much fun having you with me today, flitting here and there along the trail. How far along the river corridor have you come? What stands out to you on your journey so far?
As a feathered friend, your pīwakawaka ‘fan-trail’ guide Huanui, I am so excited about what is happening at this site. Ok, so it still looks a bit rough – and there’s still lots of volunteer hours to be done – but …wait for it…a natural corridor is being planted. What’s that about, you ask?
Well, you might think I’m a gregarious sort of bird (and I am a lot of the time!) but mostly native birds like me dislike being in the open. We need native trees and plants to hide in. They provide shelter, protection and food.
heading
So, here at the former site of the Kate Sheppard Retirement Village, natural wetlands are reasserting themselves and a plant corridor is being established. Yippee!!
Eco-Action Nursery Trust – with the help of nearby Ōruapaeroa Travis Wetland – have been busy sourcing local seeds and plants, which their volunteers plant out during autumn to early spring. School students, retirees and others in the community are involved.
What will the bird song sound like? I hope my offspring get to enjoy this new habitat and call it ‘home’.
Thank you, humans!
Remember to take a photo of what it looks like now, and come back in a while to see the corridor grow. (Don’t forget to post your photos to #REDTOGREEN on social media)
Fun fact: north of this section of New Brighton Road is Atlantis Street and Chimera Street. Atlantis is an ancient mythical city that sinks under the ocean. According to the ancient Greeks, a chimera is a mythical monster (an odd-looking hybrid animal). Nowadays the word chimera can mean an “unrealised dream”. When Eco-Action’s dream of a natural bush corridor is complete, do you think we’ll have to rename the street??
Next Steps
Next steps:
Take the Eco-Action Warrior Challenge
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScM-M3t4dBtcaYcb-CzhhgQnr7KzWQLEZZb3618H0tAD_Mcdg/viewform
Get involved with Eco-Action Nursery Trust
Natural corridors for wildlife
https://sustainable.org.nz/start-regenerating-nature/farmer-grower-and-rural-land-owner/fish-passage-and-wildlife-corridors/
Links
Links:
Kate Sheppard and Christchurch suffrage movement history
https://www.heritage.org.nz/list-details/9325/Te-Whare-Waiutuutu-Kate-Sheppard-House
https://ccc.govt.nz/culture-and-community/heritage/heritage-in-the-city/memorials#kate
https://www.waitangi.org.nz/waitangi-blog/maori-women-and-the-1893-suffrage-petition