Sanaya Master –
The first ecologically conscious World Zoroastrian Youth Congress will be held in Auckland from December 28, 2015 to January 2, 2016.
In continuation with the Congress Theme of ‘The Green Initiative,’ young Zoroastrians of East Auckland packed their boots and shovels on June 21, 2015, and headed to the breathtaking CUE Haven, in Araparera, an hour North of Auckland on the Kaipara Coast Highway.
Restoring breath
CUE Haven, the brainchild of Thomas and Mahrukh Stazyk, is a restoration project (featured in our October 1, 2014 issue) with the idea of providing lungs to the city.
A former derelict dairy farm, CUE Haven is being restored to a native New Zealand forest with the help of hundreds of volunteers from the community, who have to-date planted over 128,000 native trees.
“Our plan is to create a sustainable forest ecosystem”, Mahrukh, owner of CUE Haven said and added, “The prime objective of the project is to restore connectivity between the forest remnants, thereby enhancing biodiversity and wildlife values, whilst also providing headwater protection of the stream tributary that discharges into the Kaipara Harbour. All plants are eco-sourced, which means that they have been grown from seeds from trees within a 10 km radius of the property.”
Tree plantation
We spent the morning planting more than 520 fast-growing pioneer native trees including Cabbage Flax, Kanuka, Karamu, Kohuhu, Lacebark, Mahoe, Manuka and Wineberry, all of which will eventually establish a canopy, providing shelter for a variety of plant and birdlife to flourish.
The trees have been sponsored by the community and by some of us in the group, to off-set the carbon footprint of the Congress.
The funds generated from tree sponsorship will help us to meet the costs relating to entertainment activities at the Congress.
After revegetating the CUE Haven with native trees, Thomas and Mahrukh intend to covenant the property with the Queen Elizabeth II Open Spaces to ensure that the trees are protected in perpetuity.
Community gift
The property will be ultimately gifted to the community to enjoy as a nature reserve.
Thomas and Mahrukh carry out their vision with an emphatic and contagious zeal that rings true with all that the youth Congress stands for in its aim of preserving posterity.
Sanaya Master is a Member of the Organising Committee of the 6th World Zoroastrian Youth Congress scheduled to be held at King’s College in Auckland from December 28, 2015 to January 2, 2016.
The Zoroastrian Youth of New Zealand (ZYNZ), the Youth Wing of the Zoroastrian Association of New Zealand is organising the six-day Congress, highlighting the social and community responsibilities that elevate the meaning and purpose of human existence.
Highly motivated, the team hopes to provide a memorable religious and social experience to all participants, in addition to examining the issues that confront the human society and its natural environs.
Photo :
- The Young Zoros at CUE Haven
- Bringing bounty back to Nature
