Establishment of Environmental Care Division. When looking at the diverse work and the profile of the staff working in our Maintenance Division it became apparent that we need a new title to reflect this. We chose ENVIRONMENTAL CARE Central to the naming of this new division is the notion of 'care'. Care for the environment, the plants, animals and the people who enjoy and share in the experience of these places. With the Pegasus Town conservation projects over half- way through the implementation stage and well into the after-care phase it is timely to put this significant work under the responsibility of the Environmental Care Division. The division is run by Jason Butt, Environmental Care Manager. Jason's contact details can be found on CONTACT US page. In the area of After-care Maintenance he is assisted by Rob Smit- Maintenance Supervisor and for Pegasus work, Erica Grey- Pegasus Supervisor. Likewise their respective contact details are found on the CONTACT US page.

Success at Ellerslie. We are proud to be associated with BUSH TELLY who in addition to winning two GOLD Medals were the SUPREME award winner at the recent Ellerslie International Flower Show in Christchurch. Our contribution was the Native regenerating bush which featured in their exhibit. A photograph of a section of the bush is shown as attached. About 300 trees, shrubs and grasses were used in the bush. Our staff arranged most of the set-out and cared for the plants over the duration of the judging and public admission days. Congratulations to Mike, Tracy and the team from Bush Telly and the other sponsors for their respective contributions to what was a fabulous showcase of conservation and what is happening in the community to encourage biodiversity and help restore and protect areas of native habitat. Two Wai-Ora staff were also involved in the education side of the exhibit being the live interviews that were filmed in a studio situated on the display. These interviews will provide a impressive resource of knowledge and experience as 40 people were interviewed on a range of topics over the 5 days of the show. Soren O'Neil, Nursery Sales and Plant Procurement , was interviewed and shared her experiences in transferring native aquatic plants to the new wetlands at Pegasus Town. Jason Butt, Environmental Care Manager, discussed his experiences and techniques for native plant seed collection, cleaning and sowing. After editing ,all interviews are to be available for viewing on YouTube, Google Video in April and on DVD in May. We look forward to that, sure to be a big seller at Christmas! Not to be out done, a Company Director, Chris Todd , gave a day of his time to be an interviewer for the day. It was great to be involved with such an ambitious but extremely successful project which will be of on-going benefit to the whole community.

Staff Training. We congratulate Karaitiana Taiuru on completing his horticultural qualifications. Karaitiana has worked for the company in both the Landscapes and Nursery divisions since September 2002. Over this time he has worked hard to achieve the following qualifications; National Certificate in Horticulture ( Advanced) (Level 4) Amenity Horticulture, National Certificate in Horticulture (Landscapes) (Level 4), National Certificate in Horticulture ( Level 4) and National Certificate in Horticulture ( Nursery Production) (Level 4). All qualifications were completed through the New Zealand Horticultural Training Organisation. Karaitiana will also receive formal recognition at Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Apprentices’ and Industry Trainees’ Graduation Ceremony 2008 to be held in the Christchurch Town Hall on Friday 16th May.

New Staff Member. We welcome Karen Miles as the new Team Leader. Karen holds a Diploma in Horticulture and a Diploma in Horticultural Management and has had over 15years experience in landscaping and maintenance in both New Zealand and the UK.

Safety news. We are pleased to advise that after a recent independent audit of our Health and Safety systems, procedures and work practices we have been assessed as complying with the ACC accredited Workplace Safety Management Practices scheme requirements. We have also become a Site Safe Member as we see that Site Safe Organisation promoting the values we hold in the area of Health and Safety. All company Landscaping staff attend the Site Safe Civil passport courses and our Team Leaders and Managers are progressively attending the Site Safe Gold Card.

Changes in Senior staff. With increased business growth are pleased to announce the creation of a new contracts position and the appointment of two new Team Leaders. Nick Thompson, who had been working with us a Team Leader for 3 years has been appointed to the new position of Contracts Co-ordinator. In this key role Nick will assist Gareth Harper in tendering for work, client liaison and troubleshooting. The emphasis of his position will be the area of ‘built environments’ such as factories and commercial premises and larger residential properties. This will leave Gareth to work in the sector of ‘natural environments’ like wetlands, revegetation and conservation areas and the landscaping associated with infrastructural works like roading and subdivisions.

Construction begins on new nursery stand-outs. July has been a busy month in the nursery as construction has begun on new stand-outs and shade houses to fit all the plants being contract grown for Pegasus Town. Giltrap Engineering has started the drainage and resurfacing of the new areas with the shade house and irrigation to be constructed in August. The increased capacity will allow us to cater for the plants grown for Pegasus Town, our growing for our usual cliental and to improve capacity to cater for those wanting to use our contract growing service of eco-sourced natives for their own conservation projects. Our apologies to any visitors at the moment, but please be assured that business is open as usual in the nursery.

Wai-Ora Landscapes secures Pegasus Town contract. We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded the contract for plant supply, installation and after-care maintenance of the Eastern and Western Conservation areas of Pegasus Town. This multimillion dollar contract commenced in February 2007 with seed collection for the plant production and continues through until August 2013 when the establishment maintenance of the last area planted during 2009 is finalised.

Change in maintenance regime turns up rare plants. In line with the Company environmental policy to reduce the adverse effects of our operations, vis-a-vis use of herbicides, Jason Butt, Maintenance Co-ordinator, has been trialling less intensive maintenance techniques in some wetland areas that we maintain. This has produced some remarkable results. Targetting specific weed species rather than a blanket coverage has allowed for the natural regeneration of desirable plants to occur. When recently inspecting a maintenance site in the Smacks Creek area with Trevor Partridge, Christchurch City Council Botanist, Jason and Trevor identified 3 species of rare wetland plants, one of which is considered "Canterbury Vulnerable". The species are Ranunculus globrifolius, Isolepis reticularis, Isolepis distigmatosa. Trevor also identified part of the site as a fen, a land form of which there are few left in Christchurch.