Ohakune walkway on the mend

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 548, 9 August 1994, Page 3 (Supplement)

Ohakune walkway on the mend

Friends of the Jubilee Walkway project gathered for an official opening recently where conservation minister Dennis Marshall unveiled a plaque marking the start of the project and planted a tree. He and the other guests were welcomed by Matiu Mareikura and other members of the Maungarongo Marae. Mr Mareikura explained that the waiata (song) that they had sung mentions all the birds of the forest and that they hoped that those birds would soon be singing in the trees planted along the walkway. Ruapehu mayor Garrick Workman spoke, lending the council's support to the

project. Mr Marshall said marking the project in Conservation Week was appropriate as the theme of the week was 'biodiversity'. He said such biodiversity involved more than the natural world but included all facets of the community. He said it was pleasing that the project involved so many different sections of the community. He acknowledged the efforts of the Ohakune Primary School children who planted 500 trees in pouring rain last Tuesday, and Karen Hawke and Paul Green of the Department of Conservation who instigated and supported the project.