22 Dec 2016

For Di Carter the Port Hills are a big backyard that she has been carefully tending for nearly two decades.

The Christchurch City Council Port Hills Ranger’s dedication to conservation work in the area has been recognised by a significant Australasian award, an individual excellence award from the Australasian branch of the Society for Ecological Restoration. 

Port Hills Park Ranger Di Carter

Port Hills Park Ranger Di Carter

She was nominated for this award by the Canterbury Botanical Society in recognition of the successful re-vegetation work on the Port Hills that she has planned and managed for the past 16 years. The nomination says  Di works with a passion and a vision “way beyond her job description”. She has also organised volunteers, other rangers, and contractors who have planted trees and plants over 78 hectares.

Di is thrilled by the award, which she believes shows the council has the support of the broader ecological community. But she says it recognises the efforts of a team rather than her as an individual.

Contractors plant 15-20,000 plants a year, depending on budgets, and she and a team of hard working volunteers plant another 3000 a year. Di says she doesn’t have a garden at home, so the Port Hills are like her backyard. “I’ve invested my energy and focus on the Port Hills really.”

While progress is slow, she can see the results of that labour. “It’s slow but it is gradually changing and I find that very rewarding. You’ve got to be persistent and have that continuity to keep things rolling along. I think there is potential to engage more with communities to help with plantings in the future.” 

Di, who has a Parks and Recreation Management Degree from Lincoln University, says the funding for planting is to protect waterways and reduce sediment in the Heathcote River.  Her goal is to ensure the plantings become self-sustaining forest that contribute to longer term biodiversity goals. She loves the remnants of totara, kahikatea and matai forest on the Port Hills and its amazing rock outcrops. “It’s just quite a unique area  for its biodiversity.”

She started working on Port Hills restoration in 1999 and has been dedicated to the project ever since.  Her responsibilities  include weed control, vegetation monitoring and restoration, to protect and enhance the ecosystems on reserve land the council manages.

Council Regional Parks Operations Manager Paul Devlin says Di has worked with incredible focus and determination.  “She fosters ownership, cajoles, and supports and directs when needed. I can hear her saying to volunteers, ‘Keep it up you guys, we are planting trees for our grandchildren to grow old under’.”

The 2016 Ecological Society conference was held in Hamilton in November in conjunction with the Australasian branch of the International Society for Ecological Restoration. The inaugural award for outstanding projects from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands were announced at the conference, including Di Carter’s.

Di said it was extremely informative to go to the conference and hear about current research into all aspects of restoration being carried out nationally and internationally. 

Find out more about volunteering on the Port Hills.