Ōtaki River Planting Day: September 2025

An early dowsing of rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the crowd gathered for a morning of planting along the Ōtaki River. Everyone got stuck in, especially the grandchildren and nephews tagging along for the school holidays who got stuck in the mud and enjoyed the bonus fun of being dug out.  

With the plants in the ground in record time, there was plenty of time to connect over some kai and acknowledge the people involved in the restoration of the river. 

25 years ago, there was farmland right up to the bank of the river. Now, the paddocks, gorse, blackberry, and rubbish are a distant memory, with one person commenting that in another year or two, there will be nowhere left to plant. It’s no surprise given that The Friends of the Ōtaki River (FOTOR) have been raising 7,000-8,000 native plants in their nursery every year since 2000. 

Eric Matthews, Vice Chair of FOTOR, talked about a special milestone the group reached a couple of years ago: supplying the nursery with seeds for the next generation by collecting from their own old planting sites.  

Getting over 150,000 plants in the ground is only possible with a great team effort. Graham Winterburn from Greater Wellington’s Flood Protection team said “it’s important people know that flood protection is not all about putting bulldozers in rivers. These [planting] initiatives are a part of it.”  

Graham has been a part of this transformation from the start. His team cleared all the gorse, blackberry, and rubbish to provide sites for FOTOR to plant. About 35 people come down to the nursery every Wednesday morning to pot up new plants and tend to the seedlings. Keeping the nursery going is the support of many donations from local families.  

Getting the plants in the ground is also a family affair, with Graham saying that his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have all contributed to the efforts of the Friends over the years. 

To get involved or to find out more about Friends of the Ōtaki River you can contact Max Lutz (the Chairman) on 06 364 5569.