Book wins award

Manukau City Council’s booklet of guidelines entitled “Restoring Our Native Plants” has won New Zealand Recreation Association’s highly commended award in the Outstanding Research, Planning and Policy Award 2008 category.

Manukau Parks, with the assistance of Boffa Miskell Limited, produced a practical and accessible resource for restoring native plants throughout Manukau city.

The booklet earlier won gold in landscape planning and environmental design category and also a supreme award, the Charlie Challenger Award for Landscape Planning, at the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects’ (NZILA) 2008 awards.

The booklet contains lists of plants suitable for use in each of Manukau City’s eight ecosystem character areas. Readers can find out which native plants are best suited to their area by looking up the ‘eco-address’ in the booklet.

“The document is intentionally pitched between the general public and the botanist, to be user friendly for anyone who would like to help restore Manukau’s native plants, says group manager for Manukau Parks, Dr Digby Whyte.

A copy of ‘Restoring our Native Plants’ guidelines is available from the council website www.manukau.govt.nz – key words: restoring native plants.