The Otago Regional Council has developed a new online tool to help communities find the most suitable native plants for their specific area and project.

ORC Environmental Implementation manager Libby Caldwell said the new Otago Native Planting Guide is an interactive map which uses potential ecosystem information to produce a list of native species which will be best suited to plant in your specific area.

“Plants which naturally occur in the area will have a higher chance of surviving, as they’re adapted to growing in that local environment. The native animals in those areas will also rely on specific plant species for food and habitat,” she said.

ORC staff are at the NZ International Science Festival in Dunedin today and tomorrow (July 6-7), with advice on what natives to plant on your property.

Libby said the landscape has been greatly modified since humans arrived in Aotearoa, noting plants are the “building blocks” to restore a healthy ecosystem.

“In many places, our native birds have also disappeared. By planting the right species in the right place, we hope to bring our native fauna back, as well as improving water quality and helping toward climate change responses.”

The Otago Native Planting Guide works by users entering their project location, address or clicking on the map, which then creates a downloadable list of what native species could be planted at their site.

Introduced exotic species which are planted in gardens can escape into the wild and can create problems for native species as they can become weedy, Libby said.

“When exotics become established in the wrong place, they often start out-competing our native species.”

The Otago Native Planting Guide is for species choice rather than an instruction manual for native revegetation projects. It is intended as a supplement to existing planting resources, and to assist where they don’t.