100% renewable generator Meridian Energy, is taking their commitment to the environment to the skies of Christchurch, with the launch of the Meridian Tui Corridor over the weekend.
Teaming up with The Christchurch Foundation and Sustainable Coastlines, Meridian aims to encourage the tūi back to the Garden City, by planting a corridor of tūī tucker (some of their favourite native plants) all across Christchurch.
"By working together with The Christchurch Foundation we were able to secure The Christchurch Adventure Park as the starting point of the corridor," says Mark Harris, Meridian Renewable Programme Development Manager.
"We don’t have many tūi in the central city since the numbers dropped off in the 80’s, which is such a shame being the Garden City. Some Christchurch groups and residents have been planting tūi tucker for some time, so through this corridor we can support their efforts and all work together in a joint effort to bring this well-known songbird and many other species back to the city."
"With large scale planting and pest control of this size, we hope to see steady numbers of tūi flocking back into the city within the next 5 -10 years. It’s definitely a long-term commitment, but we’re in it for the long haul. In the meantime our planting efforts will help other species like the bellbird and native insects," says Mark.
As well as planting thousands of natives at the first planting day on Friday, Meridian invited its customers to a Pop-Up Plant Giveaway over the weekend, where over 2,000 tūi tucker plants were given away to help grow the tūi corridor across the city.
Meridian saw immediate interest from customers wanting to help at the first planting day. The volunteer spots filled up quickly, and the team now have a waiting list for the next event.
"We were delighted at the level of interest and the awesome turn out to the tree Pop Up with all of the over 2,000 plants given away. It just shows the level of interest for people enthusiasm people have, wanting play a part in welcoming the tūi back to their backyard," says Mark.
And, just as the effects of climate change are long-term, so is Meridian's efforts to combat it.
The company also has a 'Forever Forest' tree planting programme which so far has more than 60,000 seedlings planted, and is on track to hit 1.5 million seedlings across Aotearoa over the next five years.
"It’s not going to happen overnight but we are in it for the long haul, these plantings are done with the intention to be around for many generations to come," he says.
Harris says Meridian's core values are to be good to people and to the environment.
"It's who we are. We only generate using wind, water and sun; that's the foundation for the business and everything else stems from that. Whether it’s our work with KidsCan or the Kākāpō Recovery Programme, being good to people and the environment is what the drives us."
"We started the Forever Forest planting at our own assets - our hydro stations and wind farms, and now we are working with community groups and third-party planting areas," Mark says.
While it will take time, Meridian and its customers have made the first step in bringing about the return of the tūī, its friends and the sound of bird song to the garden city.
This article was created for Meridian Tui Corridor
