Eleven hectares of land in Wellington's Outer Green Belt has been handed over to a university project to plant native forest.
Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford, and Tim Park, the Council's environment partnership leader. Photo: Supplied
Wellington City Council today agreed to a 33-year lease with Victoria University Te Herenga Waka for the 11-hectare parcel of land, which is situated just outside Johnsonville.
Funding for the project is being undertaken almost entirely by the university, who will pay $100,000 a year on fencing, planting and maintenance.
Meanwhile, the council has agreed to pay just under $150,000 over 50 years, to be spent on pest and weed control.
The University expects somewhere between 18,000 and 28,000 trees could be planted on the site.
Both partners have also agreed to a carbon credit transfer, where the university will provide half of the credits generated to the City Council for the entire 33-year term.
The Council expects the proposed area will generate a total of 3,575 carbon credits over a 50-year period.
Members of the public will still be allowed access on the land.
"When this project goes ahead, we will be looking at a beautiful stream in the area," Councillor Teri O'Neill said.
"We will have rimu and totara and ngaio trees planted, and the shrubbery coming back to life.
"Anybody who spends enough time in our Outer Green Belt knows the value of bringing back forest to our central city."
The University proposed method for planting involves planting 1,600-2,500 stems per hectare, rather than the council's preferred method, which involves planting 5,000-6,000 stems per hectare.
It's believed planting less stems maximises carbon sequestration at a lower cost and initial outlay, but requires a higher level of forest establishment.
University Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford said the projects showed the University's commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
"We have sponsored an annual native tree planting day, Growing Graduates, for some years in the Town Belt.
"This is a significant expansion of that programme and has the added benefit of enhancing the partnership between the University and the city to the benefit of Wellingtonians."
Victoria University's sustainability director Andrew Wilks said the council wanted to be more involved in the community.
"We consider ourselves to be a civic university, and wanting to contribute more to the society we're operating in. We want to grow the relationship between the university, and the city, and its residents.
"Furthermore, the opportunity for our staff, our students, and our alumni to get hands on [and] involved with actually putting trees in the ground, is fantastic."