VETERAN campaigner for the environment, Pakuranga’s Rosaleen Nicholson, is “astonished” and “honoured” to be the recipient of a Certificate of Recognition awarded by Manukau City Council.
“But any work I have done has been as part of a team. There are so many people who work tirelessly for the environment, such as the Forest and Bird Protection Society and Bird Rescue.”
The certificate recognises 35 years of voluntary service to eastern communities as an advocate for the environment, particularly her work with the Tamaki Estuary Protection Society, the Forest and Bird Protection Society and the Tree Council.
She refers to the comic character Charlie Brown, whose catchphrase was: “You win some, you lose some. Sometimes we save trees, sometimes we lose them,” says Mrs Nicholson.
Last year she was in the thick of a Tree Council protest when a contractor chopped down a non-notified 200-plus year-old puriri tree during a road-widening project for the Flat Bush Town Centre development.
“Now we have regular meetings with the council’s environmental management officers to find out which trees are notified for chopping down, which are not and we can put in a word for their protection.”
Since Mrs Nicholson and her husband Douglas moved to Pakuranga in 1973, she says she has seen a change in attitude by the authorities, “not always good. “We have had to fight for things.”
She reflects on the 10 years it took to get the 10km stretch of Mangemangeroa Reserve between Somerville Road and Shelly Park saved from housing subdivision. “I have great pleasure in going there,” she says. “I take people there often. The reserve contains important remnants of coastal bush including the only remaining kohekohe and tawa in this district.”
Her favourite place, however, is Tahuna Torea, on the Tamaki Estuary at Glendowie, saved from being turned into a rubbish tip by the Tamaki Estuary Protection Society. She especially enjoys visiting with children.
Brought up on the South Island West Coast surrounded by untouched forests, Mrs Nicholson was taught about trees, water and wildlife by her mother and these days takes every opportunity to talk to children about conservation.
Last June, she retired as a relieving teacher. She’s heartened by children’s increasing interest in growing plants, for example the gardens and orchards nurtured by the young ones at Pigeon Mountain School, or the recycling project at Beachlands School.
But she despairs about many people’s lack of interest in the environment. “We’re not separate from it. More people should take an interest and they would benefit from it.
“There is something wonderful about water, soil, air and vegetation – they are the life-giving forces. Yet we see too much rubbish and destruction in the environment. I’m really honoured to receive the voluntary service award. It was most unexpected. But I would like to see more people helping organisations such as the Tamaki Estuary Protection Society and Bird Rescue. We need more people to take care of the environment.”
