This week Tim is moving to the Wellington Gardens team to be the new manager at Ōtari Native Botanic Garden and Wilton’s Bush Reserve.
Tim is super passionate about protecting and restoring nature, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with his whānau.
“My role as Environment Partnership Leader has been all about bringing people together to protect and restore nature in Wellington. I worked with many different Council teams and external partners to make this happen. I'm really proud of my role in initiating the Predator Free Wellington project which is now moving into Phase Two."
Tim says another great project he supported was led by the Rotary Club of Wellington and Conservation Volunteers Wellington, and was called Forest in the Heart of Wellington, which aims to plant more than 15,000 trees every year in the city, funded by Te Uru Rakau’s One Billion Trees programme.
More recently, he has been working with Victoria University of Wellington to develop a tree planting project in the Outer Green Belt as a part of implementing their Zero Carbon Plan that aims to make the University Carbon neutral.
“I am really looking forward to my new role in the Wellington Gardens team. Ōtari is a very special place as it is the only botanic garden in Aotearoa dedicated solely to native plants. The team at Ōtari plays a very critical role in national plant conservation efforts.
"As well as being a fantastic place to visit and learn about our native taonga, the old growth native forest is an awe-inspiring remnant of the old growth forest which once cloaked Wellington.”
For those who are interested in getting involved in looking after our environment and connecting with nature, here are some top tips from Tim.
“Get involved with your local restoration group or even just get stuck in in your own backyard by planting native trees, controlling weeds and trapping rats. Local groups welcome all kinds of volunteers, and they need people with all kinds of skills – not just trappers, weed whackers and tree planters.”