Hundreds of small trees have been planted at Historic Village in an attempt to re-establish what some believe is a historic kahikatea forest area.

As many as 400 trees, each about eight inches tall, were planted yesterday at the village forest by children from the Lavender House Kiwi Kids Club – an Out of School Care and Recreation programme for youngsters in Tauranga.

Marcus Houghton, 14, and Quade Heather-Smith, 11, plant kahikatea seedlings yesterday afternoon at Historic Village.

About three years ago, pupils at Tauranga Waldorf School gifted the kahikatea trees to Historic Village's organiser of biodiversity and sustainability Noel Pederson.

'They were nearly dead and I put them in the ground and I got them growing nicely by the environment centre. They're only little tiny plants,” says Noel.

'The Steiner-Waldorf school actually brought them here in a polystyrene tray and they had been sitting in a glasshouse in a plastic tray for probably too many years more than what they should have.”

For the last three years Noel has nurtured the trees, getting them ready to plant in the village forest.

'I grow everything organically here with compost; and I put them in the corner by the door in the compost mulch and they grew marvellously.”

Kahikatea trees, known as New Zealand's tallest forest tree, can reach heights of up to 55 metres tall, with trunks able to grow 1 metre in diameter.

With about 10 existing trees and a few seedlings already in the village forest – Noel believes the area could once have been the site of a significant kahikatea forest.

'I think that maybe it's a remnant of something that was there in pre-European times.

'There are some trees there that are quite well established and lots of little seedlings. The biggest trees look way older than when they started the village establishment here.”

Noel plans to plant the small trees in bundles of about four and nurture their growth during the summer season. As they grow bigger, Noel will continue to spread the plants across the half-acre of land in the hope of re-establishing the historic forest.

'The idea is that we'll grow them on through this season and then next autumn or next winter we can actually lift them up again and spread them out even more.”

Historic Village's organiser of biodiversity and sustainability Noel Pederson shows his young helpers kahikatea seedlings.

From left: Marcus Houghton, 14, and Quade Heather-Smith, 11, help Historic Village's organiser of biodiversity and sustainability Noel Pederson plant kahikatea seedlings yesterday afternoon.

Irirangi Nicholas, 11, plants a kahikatea seedling at Historic Village's forest area yesterday afternoon.