The World War One Memorial Forest project will be officially launched by Conservation Minister Maggie Barry on Arbor Day, June 5.

The Memorial Forest is a Thames-Coromandel District Council initiative and the official launch will see the minister plant the first 100 trees on Public Conservation Land above Cathedral Cove near Hahei.

A total of 2,779 flax crosses have been woven by Mercury Bay Area School students for the WWI Memorial Forest launch at Cathedral Cove. Each cross represent one Kiwi soldier killed at Gallipoli. Photo: TCDC

As part of the official launch children from Mercury Bay Area School will lay 2,779 flax crosses along the path at the site.

The flax crosses will be laid on the ground for the official launch to commemorate all the New Zealand men who died at Gallipoli.

Whitianga-based weavers Jo Makiha and Doug Collier spent two days with students showing them how to prepare the flax before weaving strands into crosses.

Jo and Doug have completed a Diploma of Arts at the Wananga O Aotearoa specialising in raranga (flax weaving). They also hold a special permit which allows them to harvest flax from public land for weaving.

'Weaving the crosses is like a jigsaw as each fold needs to interlock,' says Jo. 'We also had to devise weaving a cross that would be easy for a child of any age to produce.”

Students Lily Neilsen, Roisin Horn, Holly Rooney and Dior Carson (all 14) made more than 45 flax crosses in the one-hour weaving course they participated in.

'We've made them all different shapes and sizes as we were getting quite creative,”.

While Holly adds: 'We are behind the WWI Memorial project as we think there should be more native trees on the Coromandel.”

The crosses have been woven out of flax, rather than made from wood, as part of Department of Conservation and iwi protocol to only have environmentally friendly materials left on the land.

Eventually 18,166 trees will be planted at some 10 sites around the Coromandel Peninsula, with each tree representing a New Zealand soldier killed in the war.

The individual forests will provide a long-lasting focus of remembrance and reflection and a valuable environmental attraction for Coromandel residents and visitors.

Each site commemorates a different battle or aspect of the war. The Cathedral Cove site pays tribute to those who fell in the Gallipoli campaign and so 2,779 trees will be planted there.

The last of the 18,166 trees across the Coromandel will be planted by the 100th anniversary of the war's end – November 11, 2018.

For more information on the Memorial Forest visit: www.tcdc.govt.nz/ww1memorialforest