Stalwarts and youngsters celebrate Pōhutukawa Coast in Raumanga
Published on 11 June 2025
Celebrating the last 34 years as distributors for the Pōhutukawa Coast Programme are: (second and third from right) foundation distributors Alan Willis and Rona Mahy-Willis, with other long-time distributor Nola McCullough (beside Rona) and Pōhutukawa Coast tree distributor Robbie Jones, Mayor Vince Cocurullo, former Mayor Sheryl Mai and Councillor Nicholas Connop complete the set.
Tauroa Street, opposite Smeaton Drive and Bunnings, is the latest place to benefit from Whangārei’s 34-year-old Pōhutukawa Coast Programme.
Volunteers from the community and Manaia View School turned up, gumboot-clad and spade-wielding, to plant a wide variety of native plants to celebrate a significant milestone. On 20 June 2025, the official Matariki public holiday this year, the programme will give away its 100,000th tree.
The Pōhutukawa Coast Programme was started by Council in 1991, with support from the Forest and Bird Northern Branch and Refining NZ. In 2008, it became fully funded by Council and it has continued to grow.
By 2012, more than 40,000 pōhutukawa trees had been provided, and the programme expanded to include kauri, kowhai, hebes and flax.
Its objective has now evolved to improving the District’s biodiversity. By offering a range of plants that attract native birds, it is helping to create ‘green corridors’ between the Western Hills, Parihaka, and the central city.
Volunteers from Manaia View School, Pōhutukawa Coast, Forest and Bird Northern Branch, and the Raumanga community, along with District Councillors and Mayor Vince Cocurullo, were happy to get their hands dirty in the name of biodiversity as they planted 500 trees on Tauroa Street, Raumanga.
Get free native plants
The Pōhutukawa Coast Programme's plant giveaway will be happening this year on the Matariki public holiday, Friday 20 June 2025.
Read more about the programme, see what plants are on offer this year, and find out the plant pick-up locations here:
Free native plants