Part of the Matauri Community Trust initiative includes the establishment of Nairi's Community Nursery, a propagation nursery, which is used to propagate plants for use in the wetland and duneland areas and along the wider coastal surrounds. The nursery has provided over 60,000 native plants across the land and waterways in Matauri Bay.
Nairi's Community Nursery was conceived in 2009 when a small group of avid kaumātua and kuia, who relished in the idea to build a nursery, set out to do so. After investigations and research were undertaken including visits to Waimarie Nurseries in Poriti and Matakana Island the group led by Eddie Jones and accompanied by Harata Toms, Marcellus Jenkins, Anahera Pomare, Pam Gillespie, Waiunupo Komene, Matiu Awa, Moana Kiff, Huhana Ngawati and Pat Durham returned to construct the nursery in 2010.
Nairi
The nursery was named after the late Andrena Jones (aka Nairi). Nairi was an amazingly strong and brave woman. Nairi put her hand up to assist Kevin Gillespie in 2003 when the whenua was at risk and there was every chance we would lose our ancestral lands. Nairi understood the necessity to work beside Kevin to assist in repaying a debt encumbered by a previous committee of management without the knowledge or approval of the shareholders at the time.
Nairi was a greenhorn when it came to big business but she didn't let that stop her. She took her role very seriously and debated rigorously over the hard decisions that had to be made in order to retain the whenua. Once the decision had been made to proceed with a leasehold subdivision Nairi took the bull by the horns and did what she did best. She got on with it; she was committed to getting our subdivision over the line and worked tirelessly doing just that. She had her husband Eddie Jones drive her all over the bay collecting the submissions of support on the last day to get them back to FNDC when she suffered a massive heart attack and died on the beach.
She died fighting for the whenua and as a mark of the huge respect held for her the MXI advisors and Kevin Gillespie who unanimously made the decision to name the Community Nursery "Nairi's Community Nursery" in her honour.
Every seed and cutting that is planted and nurtured in the nursery holds the wairua of Nairi, as she lives in name and in spirit, as a true guardian of the whenua, a wahine toa. She will never be forgotten.
Nairi's Community Nursery also facilitates environmental education components and hosts children from Matauri School and Te Kura Kaupapa o Whangaroa on garden maintenance, seed collection outings and propagation demonstrations; all to encourage responsible guardianship of our environment.
The current Plant Specialist and Manager is Tony Fiske and the Office Administrator is Verne McManus.
Nursery Visits in May 2009: Waimarie and Matakana Island
For more information please contact
Tony Fiske [Plant and Tree Specialist and Manager] Verne McManus [Administrator]
antonyfiske@gmail.com vmm@xtra.co.nz
021 246 6427