Crowd Funding to Grow Project Rameka

Project Rameka - Jan 5, 2015December 16, 2015

Jonathan Kennett, Bronwen Wall, Simon Johnson and Karyn Burgess – Rameka settlors and trustees

Join us in funding the purchase of a regenerating forest next to Project Rameka in Golden Bay.

View from Rameka Creek — The view of the potential carbon sink property from the bottom of Rameka Creek

UPDATE: As at Friday 9 January, we’ve reached$315,000 in pledges. $420,000 goal. Just over a week to go.

We are off to a great start and have gained an assurance from the property’s owners that we will have first dibs on purchasing it. In fact, they have removed it from Trademe and given us until 19 January to raise funds.

For those who are concerned about climate change and would like to support turning this land into a carbon sink to pull pollution out of the atmosphere, this is an exciting opportunity. This land is ideal.

It also offers potential additional benefits of:

an extension to the historic Rameka Track all the way down to Takaka valley
a few hectares of orchard and pasture, as well as a possible dwelling at the bottom, which could be developed as a lifestyle block.

What’s so great about the land that’s for sale?

The majority of the land is cloaked in young native forest, which has the potential to grow fast and absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. Its protection would also increase the green corridor from the edge of Abel Tasman National Park to the DOC Scenic Reserve beside Rameka Creek.

Size: 50 hectares (46 hectares moderate to steep land above a pig-proof fence and 4 hectares below the fence on flat land)

Vegetation: Mostly regenerating native forest above a pig-proof fence, with some orchards and a little pasture at the bottom.

Outlook: Westerly aspect overlooking the Takaka valley.

Geology: This is karst country with cool limestone outcrops.

RV: $360,000 (asking price, over $400,000)

The driveway through the bottom 2 hectares, with studio in the background.

How much carbon dioxide?

35 hectares of native forest and 5 hectares of pine forest can pull over 400 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year.

This compares to an average carbon footprint (in NZ) of 18 tonnes of CO₂being added to the atmosphere each year. (You can calculate your personal or family carbon footprint at www.carbonzero.co.nz). Your footprint might be much lower – Paul Kennett’s is 1 tonne per annum.)

Helping to ‘carbon sink’ 1 hectare for a one-off donation of around $10,000 would equate to 10 tonnes of your carbon emissions being absorbed each year for the rest of your life.

Forest mix of young kanuka, wilding pines and numerous totara and matai.

Recreation potential

The property for sale also has the historic Rameka Track (an old pack route) going through it at a very gentle gradient. This track could be opened up for recreation purposes to connect Project Rameka with the Takaka valley (and would also be useful for pest control).

Holiday/work-base potential

There are a few buildings on the bottom flat 5 hectares (below the pig proof fence), including a permitted ‘studio’, which has a garage, bathroom and workshop below, and expansive views from the top floor.

This would be a great base for working holidays.

Gateway to involvement

It is important that those involved with this land share similar views and motivations. The goal is primarily to mitigate climate change, with the added benefits of forest restoration and recreation.

This is not a conventional (ie, financial) investment opportunity – it is an environmental investment opportunity. The land would be added to Project Rameka and managed in accordance with those goals, covenanted (most likely with a QEII Covenant) and legally protected in perpetuity.

However, the future ownership and management of the 4 hectares below the pig-proof fence may work on a different basis, as this area suits being a lifestyle block more than a carbon sink. For example, the Trust might look at the possibility of selling an interest in that small lifestyle section of the land to recover some of the purchase costs, or might seek to buy the land with a third party who wants to own the lifestyle block.

Rewards

Pledge $100 or more

Give this amount and you’ll be kept up to date with our progress and we’ll say THANK YOU on the Project Rameka blog. We will also give you a PFSI carbon credit equivalent to one tonne of CO_2.

Pledge $1000 or more

This amount gives the land a great start by paying for a professional to spend a week on the property controlling pest species such as old man’s beard (which smothers regenerating forest) and wild pigs (which decimate plants growing at ground level). For this pledge, you will receive a Ground Effect fleece top embroidered with the Rameka logo, as well as a PFSI one tonne carbon credit.

Pledge $10,000 or more

Leave a legacy. This amount is enough to offset a modest-sized carbon footprint, every year, for the rest of your life, and beyond. With this awesome pledge, you will receive a native tree seedling and a special edition “Rameka Carbon Neutral” designer top, as well as five PFSI carbon credits.

Pledge $50,000 or more

This amount makes you a real carbon sink legend, so in addition to the rewards above we’d offer you the chance to become one of the Rameka trustees and take an active role in the management of the land (interview required to ensure we are all on the same page J).

Funding period

19 December 2014 to 19 January 2015.

Pledge now

If you are interested, just reply now or before 19 January with an indication of how much you would like to pledge. We will keep in contact with regular fundraising updates.

If you have any questions, contact Jonathan Kennett, phone 027 284 5599 or email jonathan[at]kennett[dot]co[nz] or Bronwen Wall, email bronwen[at]wall[dot]net[dot]nz

Useful links

To find out the latest on climate change from the most reliable sources, check out:

http://climate.nasa.gov/

http://www.ipcc.ch/

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/way-forward-climate

A summary of Project Rameka

Land size: 48 hectares

Trees planted since 2008: 4000

Carbon sequestered: 4800 tonnes

Track built: 5 km

Pests controlled: possums, stoats, weasels, rats, pigs and goats

References: Paradise Saved (pub 2014), and https://rameka.carbonforest.nz/

Our climate is changing, with a worldwide loss of ice and snow,
more extreme weather events and rising sea levels.
How much it changes in the future depends mainly on

how much CO₂ is in the atmosphere – and that is up to us.

Growing trees alone is not enough to solve climate change,

but it is a way for you to remove your share of the greenhouse gases.

Be part of the solution.

PODs and Pigs

Project Rameka - Jul 14, 2014January 25, 2016

May 2014

The trip began with a good bout of POD building, largely thanks to some new minds in the mix. Bronnie was a creative force of the highest level. John milled all of the framing timber and the exterior battens. Martin bought up just about everything else, and then Andy arrived with a bunch of tools and everyone pitched in.
Andy talked (mostly to himself) non stop. Whereas once John was working he hardly said a word, conserving all energy for thinking. Martin and Bronnie tried to keep out of trouble. Jonathan skived off with Matt to formulate a planting plan for August. It was madness until dark. Thank God we don’t have electricity. Everyone just had to settle down around the fire and recap the day’s building.

Then in the weekend we had a seriously big work party, with lots of progress. In fact all of the remaining damage from Cyclone Ita was cleaned up. There must have been around 60 pine trees across the tracks, so this was and incredible feat. The power of volunteers!

Trees down all over the place on Great Expectations

Rerouting the start — We had to reroute the start of The Odyssey as there were five trees down on top of each other in the first 20 metres

It seemed better to just go under this tree, rather than remove it. It's another feature now. — It seemed better to just go under this tree, rather than remove it. It’s another feature now.

Mr bloody Piggles escapes again! From a distance we thought it was a wild pig, and snuck upon it with a splitting axe, but it retaliated by trying to lick Jonathan to death, so he decided it might not be wild after all.

The latest we’ve heard is that the ‘good old boys’ up there for a night of pig hunting, caught Mr Piggles on the road, boxed him up and took him to Takaka for a night on the town. They soon discovered that he was owned by part time bouncer ‘Lewy’ and quickly returned him. But he’ll escape again, mark my words. What are we going to do with you Mr Piggles?

Work and Design

Project Rameka - Jul 14, 2014October 1, 2015

March 2013

Sometimes it’s hard to tell how a thing is going to work out unless you just get on and build it.
In this case, Mark, Murray, Andrew and especially Jonathan were happy to just make it up as they went along. Bloody good fun!

Now at the end of the trip we thought “if just we had one more day…”
We were totally deluded. More on that later.

Not really sure how this is going to work out!

Ok, it's starting to look cool. — Ok, it’s starting to look cool.

A Motley Crew

Project Rameka - Jul 14, 2014October 1, 2015

November 2013

There are few holidays as satisfying as a ‘conservation vacation’ at Rameka and this time we shared the experience with Kevin – a solid volunteer from USA; Sean – a carrick building musicologist; and Geoff – gainfully employed prof from VUW. It was an unusual trip, with a variety of missions.

We started by building the foundations for a sleeping POD, which is essentially a wooden tent, possibly, maybe, well we will just make it up as we go and find out at the end of the job exactly what it is.

Bronnies main mission, with help from a very nice woman who was dropping her kids off to go mountain biking, was to ‘Release’ the previously planted trees. In other words, stop them from being smothered by weeds. They only have to grow a metre tall and then they can look after themselves.

An on the last day we had a work party with about twenty people and built another chunk of the Odyssey – a track that is living up to it’s name because the terrain down in the side gut is horribly tough.

The foundations for the POD, whatever that turns out to be... — The foundations for the POD, whatever that turns out to be…

Sean Linton riding down Great Expectations

Mark and Kevin, forging ahead on the Odyssey

August is a time for trees

Project Rameka - Aug 29, 2013October 1, 2015

Saturday 10 to Tuesday 20 August 2013

Yippy! It’s time to head down to Project Rameka for some tree planting.

This year’s goal was to plant out the slip face with 200-odd tutu, which has one of the best root profiles for retaining banks – and slipfaces apparently. It will never grow into an impressive forest giant, but it will attract the birds, and at this stage, we’re keen on anything that will help stop the land sliding away and causing any more damage in the next serious rain event.
And after the tutu, there were more luscious native species to plant out along the historic section of the old Rameka pack track heading in to Great Expectations and The Odyssey.
A fantastic workparty on Sunday 18 August saw 20-odd volunteers planting out miro, hinau, totara, wineberry, rimu, lemonwood … a whole feast of fantastic canopy and sub-canopy natives that can just chug their way up to the heavens.
Greg Thurlow joined us just in time. We called him our ‘earthquake refugee’, as the large 6.6 Friday earthquake took place a matter of hours before his ferry had him on his way from Wellington for a two-week holiday. He was happy to lend some muscle to ferry the plants down the track, dig holes for them and then, in the afternoon, tidy up the track, making it a bit wider and smoothing out some ruts and boggy bits.

Bronnie shows a willing group the finer art of tree shelter origami - don't scoff, these blighters are surprisingly complicated to construct. — Bronnie shows a willing group the finer art of tree shelter origami – don’t scoff, these blighters are surprisingly complicated to construct.