Coronation Forest tree planting continues 65 year legacy

15 Oct 20

Our Stories

Coronation Forest, an area of native and pine plantation within Golden Downs Forest near Nelson hosts an annual education and tree planting day out for local primary school children. This year the event was run over four days between 7th and 10th September 2020.

The annual event is provided free of charge to visiting schools with staff and former staff of OneFortyOne taking the children through their tree planting paces, guiding them on a forest walk through a native forest area within the estate, and providing them with the opportunity to learn more about the technology used to measure trees.

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, a smaller scale event was still able to be held this year, allowing OneFortyOne to continue the event’s 65-year legacy.

Participating schools this year were Dovedale School, Riwaka School, Tasman Bay Christian School, Wakefield School, Brightwater School, and Birchwood School.

Students planting trees in Coronation Forest

Dovedale School teacher Paula Finch says that the day was an important one for her students who have recently been learning about the importance of planting native trees and protecting waterways.

“The event was really well organised,” says Paula. “We were up there with Riwaka School which was exciting for our kids, but because of COVID-19 protocols we weren’t able to interact with them. A couple of schools had pulled out so we really appreciate that OneFortyOne still ran the event. It’s a good, informative day for the kids.”

Paula says that several of her students’ Dads have jobs in the forestry industry and it was good for them to see the environment where their parent worked. The group learnt a lot and Paula says it was good to learn that so much of the harvested resource stays local.

“The bush walk with Rex Marshall really sparked the kids up. Rex took the kids through a block of protected native trees within the forest and shared great information about the different plants, insects and birds in the area. He said he was impressed by what the kids already knew which was great for me as their teacher.

“The kids also enjoyed seeing how the diameter and density of the trees was measured and this was a good link for the science activities we have been doing in class recently. We were surprised by how much technology was involved.”

Students in Coronation Forest

OneFortyOne acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their deep connections to land, water, and community. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people today.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori communities have a strong spiritual connection between people and the land – the wellbeing of one sustains the wellbeing of the other. We strive to build meaningful relationships with iwi as tangata whenua (people of the land/region), to be responsible intergenerational kaitiaki (stewards/guardians) of the land where our forests grow.