The Cannons Creek Valley used to be full of native bush - trees and birds abounded. Then the settlers came.
The poor soil of the Valley was wrecked by attempts at farming. It was then abandoned. Then came vermin and weeds. Then it burned.
No-one cared, until the turn of the century.
The Friends of Maara Roa was formed to conduct a 20-year restoration project to return the Cannons Creek Valley to what it was before the settlers came. We are working with the local authorities and owners of the land to clear and replant.
We are going to create a place where people can see how it was, and enjoy its beauty again.
The story is told that in former times a Maori woman, name unknown, tended a garden on a long strip of land somewhere in the northern side of this valley. She grew fruit and vegetables there, and shared them generously with Maori and Pakeha alike.
So well-known did she become for her hospitality, that travellers called her home "The Long Garden" - Maara Roa.
The nearby Marae has honoured her by naming the Wharenui "Ukaipo Hiato" - the gathering place of the mother who provides for all the people.
The Friends of Maara Roa - "Nga Hoa o Maara Roa" - intend to recreate a forest "garden" here, whose pleasures can be similarly shared by all in years to come.
Our logo is based on a very gaunt old Tawa tree standing in an area where everything else has been burnt so many times.
It has great bare arms reaching upwards, yet it has leaves on one side, showing life still there. This represents the "before" and "after" of our restoration project.
We are a group of people from Porirua City and Tawa, Wellington. We set up a restoration
and development society (Friends of Maara Roa Inc) to bring the public on board.
We have done much, and things are happening now....
From 2001 there have been a number of events that have or will effect restoration and development in the catchment:
Email your questions or comments to Webmaster AT MaaraRoa DOT org DOT nz