About Us

The Riverlea suburb of Hamilton, New Zealand, is home to residential housing, an industrial area and a stunning patch of native bush that is Hamilton’s most diverse forest remnant.

The Riverlea Environment Society Incorporated (RESI) is a not-for-profit group run by volunteers.

Objectives

Our objectives are to protect and enhance the environmental and other amenity values of our local area.

We do this by:

  • restoring our local bush remnant in Hammond Park with fortnightly and  monthly working bees and regular pest control. These tasks are done hand-in-hand with local government
  • engaging with local government on matters of town planning and resource consent processes that we feel will impact the environmental and amenity values of the area
  • being part of Project Echo, a movement to protect the native long-tailed bat (pekapeka), a threatened species
  • involving the wider community via email, Facebook and a newsletter that is delivered to all Riverlea houses.

Why we do it

We want to restore a small part of Hamilton to its former glory, which included abundant native vegetation and wildlife. Walking through beautiful natural areas is rejuvenating for the body and mind. The process of pursuing this aim has created a special sense of community in Riverlea, making it a better place to live.

Location

Come and visit Hammond Park

Hammond Park is a beautiful place to visit, with riverside beaches and a boardwalk through native bush. It is home to the rare long-tailed bat, tui, kereru, eels, glow worms and the rare swamp Maire tree. A great way to see it is to take one of the Waikato Museum’s night tours, during which you can search for bats and see glow worms.

Our society has a bat monitor to lend out. The monitor converts the echolocation calls of bats to a frequency that human ears can hear. Contact John on 07-856-2361 to arrange to borrow the monitor.

Environmental Restoration

Thanks to our work, and the support of local governments, the bush in Hammond Park has changed enormously. Large areas of weeds have been removed, new plantings have been made. Working bees are held on the last Saturday of every month, to further improve the health of the bush.

Saturday

Planting and Weeding
  • Last Saturday in the month 10-12am
  • Biscuits and drinks
  • Organised with, and assisted by, Natural Areas Team HCC
  • Wear gloves and a hat
  • We provide clippers or secateurs (weeding) or a spade (planting) but you can bring your own if you wish
  • See notices for meeting place and tools.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” Dr Seuss, The Lorax.