Auckland environmentalist wins battle to protect urban style jungle
But plants on another grass verge will be removed by Auckland council after complaints from some residents in nearby apartments.
Freeman's Bay resident
Mark van Kaathoven has worked on the berm gardens
outside his home and neighbouring properties for more than three decades.
They are a colourful lush blend of natives and sub tropical plants that almost form a covered walkway or canopy over the footpath.
He uses green waste to fertilise the gardens, that also
act as sponges in extreme weather
.
Auckland Council has now given most of the berms protected status under its restorative gardening initiative, meaning they can't be removed.
Mark van Kaathoven told
Checkpoint
the victory was very special.
"Nothing like this has ever been done before, and it's not just a first for New Zealand, but I think actually it's a first for all of Australasia."
He said the scale the berms had reached was all thanks to nature.
"I've just quietly done my little bit. just putting a tree on the berm and then extending it with more planting ,and then lo and behold mother nature is along with me helping me," van Kaathoven said.
Auckland Council has now given most of the berms protected status under its restorative gardening initiative.
Photo:
RNZ/Lisa Owen
He said the protected status meant the berms would now be viewed like a park or garden, with similar maintenance to be provided by the council.
"Along the way I'll be educating the council or the contractors how this whole section's looked after and how to maintain it, and it's very easy."
Now at age 63, van Kaathoven is keen to pass his knowledge and care for the garden on to the next generation.
"I have to show the next generation how this whole process looks after itself in many ways. And you just have to give it a a helping hand to make it look after itself as much as you need to help it as well," he said.
When it comes to the look of the berms, van Kaathoven has opted for more is more.
"I don't know if anyone's ever been to the Amazon. It's very much like that. I've got layers of foliage in the trees, on the ground," he said.
"It's just a whole mixture of plants... on different levels. So, you walk through there and it's a completely different journey from what you get in other areas of the streets in Freemans Bay... We have a real ecosystem that's working so beautifully"
He said the sub-tropical plants thrive in this climate, most of them looking after themselves.
"In the 15 years that I've been doing landscape gardening, I've taken three or four bags of rubbish to the tip."
Green waste was the key to keeping the berms growing, van Kaathoven said he puts just about any green waste on the plants.
"Tree logs, lawn clippings, hedge trimmings, palm fronds, vegetable scraps... so I use everything in a positive way."
van Kaathoven is also a big advocate for green infrastructure.
"We need a combination of sponge gardens, wetlands and good infrastructure, and the three elements will work really well with the weather events."
He said he's now on the hunt for new berms he can grace with an urban jungle.
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