People are invited to join the Rotary Club of Whakatane, the Ōhope Spit Care Group, Halo Whakatāne, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Ngāti Hokopu and secondary school Interact students at a planting day at the Ōhiwa Harbour spit, just past the Port Ōhope boat ramp, on Sunday.

Spokesman Richard Underwood said everyone was welcome, especially parents and children.

“It is a way of teaching children to see nature at work and follows on from a planting day that Rotary did on the Otao reserve a year ago when a good number of parents brought their children along to plant a tree,” he said.

“This planting is a continuation of what the Ohiwa Spit Care Group along with Bridget Palmer have been doing over the past four years.”

“For Rotary, it is part of the wider Bay of Plenty Rotary initiative of doing similar projects under the umbrella of ‘Footprints for our Future’.”

Planting will be done between 9am and noon with the planting site about a 400-metre walk from the carpark. Rotary is providing a sausage sizzle at the conclusion.