It was cause for celebration when the Trust established by the Club in 2019 surpassed its target of 200,000 trees planted at the end of the 2022 planting season.
RCW established the Rotary Peace, Remembrance and Community Forests Trust in late 2019 as a centennial project and secured funding from the Billion Trees Fund. The Trust aims to establish native forests, in partnership with Rotary Clubs and community groups throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. It contracted with Te Uru Rākau (New Zealand Forest Service) agreeing to commission planting of 200,000 trees in exchange for payment of approximately $1.4million. Planting was delayed initially by Covid-19 lockdowns and restricted activity with the contract timeframes extended as a result. At the end of 2022 planting season over 220,000 trees had been planted with contracts in place for a further 20,000 which will bring the total to over 244,000.
