For the second year running, Farrow Jamieson brought their client Ricoh New Zealand out to plant trees together instead of taking them to lunch.

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25 people, spades in hand, gathered at the Chamberlins Property, where the upper Papakura Stream runs out of the valley. It was seventeen degrees to start, then the rain rolled through and cooled everyone off. It was muddy, wet, and genuinely good fun – and for a few people on the day, it was the first tree they'd ever planted.

Impact: 1,857 native seedlings planted

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Between them the group got 1,857 native seedlings into the ground: mānuka, kānuka, harakeke, ngaio and sedges, tucked in under mature mānuka and a stand of teenage tōtara, rimu, mātai and kahikatea.

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This site has hosted a run of Planting Action Days now, and the difference is starting to show. Earlier plantings are already holding the stream banks, and fantails were working the slope alongside the group. Over time these trees will filter the sediment that would otherwise reach the Manukau Harbour, and keep bringing the birdlife back.