Living Legends of New Zealand rugby
18 Feb 2011
The Rugby World Cup will leave a living legend in New Zealand long after this year’s event is over - thanks to a native tree planting project involving some of the country’s legendary rugby players.
‘Living Legends’ is a community conservation effort that takes the field to the forest to highlight New Zealand’s natural heritage and honour some of the country’s rugby greats - at a time when the eyes of the world are on New Zealand during Rugby World Cup 2011.
Rugby Legends
The 17 rugby legends have been chosen by rugby unions throughout New Zealand for their contribution either as a player or administrator in their region.
They include Richie Guy, Wayne Shelford, Bryan Williams, Duane Monkley, Hika Reid, Sir Colin Meads, Ian Eliason, Ian MacRae, Sam Strahan, Christian Cullen, Sir Brian Lochore, John Sturgeon, Tane Norton, Jock Ross, Todd Blackadder, Kevin Laidlaw and Kees Meeuws.
Each will lead a native tree planting project in their region - managed by Living Legends with the support of local rugby unions and the community. Visitors and locals are being encouraged to participate in the events.
Dedicated sites
Planting days will be held from 1 September to 30 October and will take place on public conservation land in the 17 regions. Each site will be dedicated to the rugby legend of that area.
Plantings will be held in Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Wellington, Tasman, Buller/West Coast, Mid Canterbury, Christchurch, Otago and Southland.
Each planting area will cover at least 2-5 hectares and it is hoped that a minimum of 5,000 trees will be planted at each of the 17 sites this year, with plans to increase that to 10,000 each site by the end of the project in 2015.
Lasting treasure
Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson launched the Living Legends project in Christchurch earlier this month saying it was a "fantastic opportunity for New Zealanders and visitors to contribute to enhancing New Zealand’s environment, and leave a lasting treasure in some of New Zealand’s most iconic natural areas".
The Living Legends project has been developed by Project Crimson, an environmental charity with 20 years experience in community-based native restoration projects, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and The Tindall Foundation of New Zealand - a philanthropic family trust established by Stephen and Margaret Tindall of The Warehouse retail chain.
The project also involves a public competition - people can vote for their number one Rugby Legend through a Meridian People’s Choice campaign on livinglegends.co.nz from now until the end of Rugby World Cup 2011 in October.
More information:
Rugby World Cup
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