Until late 2024, nobody had seen te pua o Te Rēinga “the flower of the underworld” in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. A chance discovery of a small struggling population has kick started a race to protect the plants and help them return.
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Learn more:
- First Up interviewed Avi Holzapfel about Te Pua o Te Rēinga in 2024
- In 2020, OCW looked at efforts to resurrect a transplanted population of Te Pua o Te Rēinga at Zealandia.
- Graeme Atkins is also one of the driving forces behind an effort to help the ngutukākā plant return to the wild, plus the 1769 Garden – a living library of rare local East Coast native plant species.
Guests:
- Graeme Atkins (Ngāti Purou, Rongomawahine)
- Barrett Pistoll – Greater Wellington Regional Council
- Avi Holzapfel – Department of Conservation
- Rhys Mills - Ngā Manu Nature Reserve
- Bart Cox – Wellington City Council
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details
