In 1997, a New Zealand teacher began planting a windswept coastal paddock with Year 9 students; 29 years later, 12,425 plants have turned it into native habitat

A coastal area in New Zealand that was once bare pasture and windswept grassland has been transformed after 29 years of planting by school students. Since 1997, generations of Buller High School students led by now retired school teacher Janet Pottinger, have helped bring native vegetation back to Tauranga Bay and nearby Cape Foulwind.