Ben Lomond Project Update

Date: 7th December 2023

And that’s a wrap! A huge thank you to everyone who came out and volunteered with us!

A huge thank you to everyone who participated with us over the two weeks on Ben Lomond, your contributions mean so much and you can be proud of all the great work we have achieved. We are proud to say our 4 sites tackled over the event were cleared completely, leaving these areas with the opportunity for native species to thrive.

WCG Volunteers on Ben Lomond

Over 18,000 wilding pest trees were controlled by volunteers!

An average of 20 volunteers per day joined us on Ben Lomond over the last two weeks. (Even with Sunday and Wednesday’s Helicopter cancelled, a few hardy souls still turned up to the gondola at 6.45am and went up to clear pines in the drizzle).

18,000 pest trees chopped before they cone and seed. That will have a massive impact.

For every wilding controlled, this is how many Beech Trees and native plants were protected:

Working on 300 pest trees in a wilding forest per acre;18,000 wildings removed would mean nearly 24 hectares of wilding forest averted and 60 acres of Beech forest natives protected! That is the same size as 30 rugby pitches!

WCG Volunteers on Ben Lomond

Because of our hard work, these controlled pest trees won’t be spreading the next generation of wildings and multiplying the damaging effects even further.

Ben Lomond is unique with pockets of native beech forest, native shrubland and tall tussock grassland all within walking distance of Queenstown and protecting this special area is of the utmost importance.

All these precious natural values along with the existing biodiversity are threatened and would have been lost without a committed intervention such as this.

WCG Volunteers on Ben Lomond

We sincerely thank each and every one of you who turned up to contribute and add to these incredible figures.

We love hosting our community in these special locations.

Thank you all for your support and inspiration from all the team at Whakatipu Wilding Control Group.

WCG Volunteers on Ben Lomond

If you wish to get involved in future volunteering events, please follow this link…


A huge thank you to our sponsors and affiliated groups who made this event possible.

 

 

Skyline Queenstown
GForce Paragliding

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