Last night Project Crimson celebrated its 25th anniversary with a reception at Government House.
Our Photo of the Week celebrates their work fighting for our iconic red flowered pohutukawa and rata trees.
When the Trust was founded in 1990, the outlook for pohutukawa and rata was bleak. An estimated 90% of coastal stands of pohutukawa in Northland had gone and it was clear that, if something wasn’t done, these trees could be wiped out in some parts of the country.
Fast forward to 2015 and Project Crimson has made impressive progress re-establishing pohutukawa and rata nationwide by planting trees, coordinating and supporting a wide range of maintenance activities, scientific research, possum control programmes and public education.
While the fortunes of pohutukawa and rata have changed for the better since Project Crimson’s formation, their protection and continued renewal is still vital. Enormous work remains to be done to restore the Bartlett’s Rata species, with only 25 adult trees known to be in survival.
Project Crimson, and their partners, work with organisations, communities and individuals throughout New Zealand and can assist them by providing funding and ecologically-sourced trees for local projects.
So, thanks Project Crimson for helping ‘keep New Zealand red’.
awesome photo!