Planting at Little River

Over recent years the small communities on the south-side of the Akaroa Peninsula have been hit hard by flooding. A Rocha in Christchurch participated in a recent planting event to mitigate the impact of this flooding. Addington Community Coffee Co-op, an off-shoot of South West Baptist Church, owns a 10 hectare property at Cooptown near Little River. Home for several families, the property also grows vegetables for the Coffee Co-op and provides a place of rest and respite. Funding from Environment Canterbury allowed the community to purchase 1600 native seedlings to plant along the stream bank. Planting will stabilise the stream banks, reduce the severity of flood-events and also have ecological positives – increasing native bio-diversity and improving the health of the stream. Two A Rocha Christchurch stalwarts, Steve Muir and Christy Hattingh (McKessar) biked the 55km from Christchurch to Little River – Steve Muir with spades, gumboots, food and overnight gear in his electric bike trailer. After 2.5 hours of cycling they surprisingly both had plenty of energy left for digging!