Pocket Restoration Aotearoa

Read Emma’s speech from the debut event for Pocket Restoration Aotearoa:

Thank you again to everyone for making the high involvement choice to be here tonight. By choosing to be here, you have committed to being part of something bigger than yourself, bigger than all of us.

Jane Goodall, an English primatologist said, “you cannot get through a single day without making an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make”.

The inspiration for the app was gradually pieced together by a series of events over the past year and a half. I am lucky enough to sell EmGuards for my job. I get to meet and talk with inspired people all over the country conducting restoration projects both big and small. One thing I have been struggling with however, is knowing plant names. I would love to be able to say not only, “wow that Dacrycarpus dacrydioides, is doing very well there” but also “isn’t it amazing it could grow up to 80 metres tall”.

My solution was to download an app where I could spend 10 minutes a day doing quizzes to familiarize myself with Aotearoa’s native Flora. However, I could not find one that suited my needs. And, those who know me know I am all for an innovative solution.

I turned up to work the following day and as usual, jumped at the opportunity to rattle some ideas past dad. He heard me out, asked a few questions and responded with only three words. “Make it happen”.

My colleague Alvin and I had previously talked about the possibility of publishing a handbook to help people with their restoration journeys. We quickly decided that there was nothing stopping us combining that handbook with the quizzes and creating an interactive platform that could continue to grow and evolve as we do.

Telling people I work with my parents often gauges mixed responses and true, 5% of the time when I catch myself answering my mum like my 14 year old self would have, it is a bit of a challenge. But that other 95% of the time, I wouldn’t change it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you both for allowing me to be a dreamer, but also keeping me on track, and making sure I see things through (thanks mum). It has been a privilege watching the inception of FuturEcology, working with you both to develop the EmGuards and to be where we are at now with Pocket Restoration Aotearoa. I so admire your vision and your commitment to helping others be successful.

I was lucky enough to hear Arizona Leger present at the recent Aspire conference and she talked about being a brave ancestor. Our actions today determine what kind of ancestor we are and mum and dad, I think you are bloody good ones.

But I believe being here tonight, we are all brave ancestors. Collectively we can achieve a more sustainable future. Pocket Restoration Aotearoa is our way of building a community of likeminded people and organizations and celebrate the successes happening all around the country.

Pocket Restoration Aotearoa has taken the collective work experience of everyone involved with the intention of making environmental restoration, accessible, achievable, and affordable to everyone wanting to make a positive impact. Someone wise recently said to me Isaac Asimov’s quote, “The true delight is in the finding out, rather than the knowing” and Pocket Restoration Aotearoa is here to help you discover the joy to be had, conducting successful restoration.

This wouldn’t have been possible without Haidi’s dedication and drive take this project from a design brief and a basic framework to a functioning platform with the potential to redefine the conservation industry as we know it, so thank you Haidi.

I was privileged enough to spend some time with Nath Davis and wee Olive recently and hear about their restoration project. He is an incredibly warm individual who has the completely understated ability to draw you in, inspire you and leave you feeling a little more optimistic about the world.
He kindly let me record a video about his restoration project to share with you all tonight. So, thank you Nath, for your hospitality and making all of our lives a little richer.