Dozens of families from Auckland's Dawoodi Bohra community have traded a quiet weekend morning for spades and gumboots, joining efforts to restore a wetland in the Waitākere Ranges near Bethells Beach.
The Indian Muslim community has pledged to plant 4000 native trees each year as part of a three-year partnership with Matuku Link, a 37-hectare bush and wetland restoration project in West Auckland.
The Dawoodi Bohra community of New Zealand signed a memorandum of understanding with Matuku Link last year through its global Project Rise initiative, which brings together volunteers and local experts to support environmental conservation and protect native wildlife.
Children plant trees at Matuku Link Reserve as part of the Dawoodi Bohra community's commitment to restoring a wetland in the Waitākere Ranges. Photo: Supplied / Matthew Wardle
On Saturday, families spread across the wetland carrying sticks, spades and trays of native plants, with children joining adults in the planting effort.
"I think we are unique in a way that we are a religious community coming together for a conservation project," said Adnan Hasan, president of the Dawoodi Bohras of New Zealand.
Hasan said the community had already started seeing the impact of its work through earlier planting efforts.
"You can see the impact of what 30- or 40-odd families can bring on a morning like today," he said.
The Indian Muslim community has pledged to plant 4000 native trees each year as part of a three-year partnership with Matuku Link, a 37-hectare bush and wetland restoration project in West Auckland. Photo: Supplied / Matthew Wardle
The Dawoodi Bohras are a Muslim community originating from western India, with more than 1 million members living across 40 countries.
The community follows the Fatimi Ismaili Tayyibi school of thought within Shia Islam.
For many families, the project is about passing environmental values on to younger generations.
"We're a minority in a minority but we're closely knit," said volunteer Nazar Faizy, who joined the planting day alongside his wife, Fatema, and their 7-year-old son.
"More than us, we've got our son so he gets a taste of it and he understands," Faizy said.
Nazar and Fatema Faizy in the Waitākere Ranges after planting native trees as part of a Dawoodi Bohra community initiative to protect wetlands. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Fatema Faizy said the environmental focus of the initiative strongly resonated with her.
"It was a two-way thing," she said.
"We [have] got to be a part of the community and I'm an environmentalist at heart, so we have to be here."
She said the community had linked Project Rise with its madrasa religious education programme to encourage children to participate in planting and conservation work.
Shabbir Rajkotwala, trustee and outreach lead, said caring for the environment was a shared responsibility regardless of background or faith.
"It is an obligation that everyone has to protect the land we live in regardless of what their background is," he said.
Rajkotwala said the community hoped the project would continue for generations.
"The air in the atmosphere is shared by all. It doesn't discriminate, so it's something that really binds us together," he said.
He said the group hoped to expand similar environmental initiatives to other parts of New Zealand.
Shabbir Rajkowala is a trustee and outreach lead at Dawoodi Bohra New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom
Indian communities across Auckland have increasingly become involved in conservation projects in recent years.
In 2019, Chinmaya Mission New Zealand planted 5500 trees at Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary Society alongside hundreds of volunteers.
In 2022, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh planted 300 trees and shrubs at Wenderholm Regional Park, while Shah Satnam Ji Green 'S' Welfare Committee planted 514 trees at Shakespeare Regional Park in 2023.
Rajkotwala believed it was important to involve young people in the conservation effort.
"In the Dawoodi Bohra faith we let the children lead and we strongly believe that the next generation has to take on the ownership of this land," he said.
"That is how we are taking it forward."
About 40 members of the Dawoodi Bohra community took part in the tree planting drive on Saturday. Photo: Supplied / Matthew Wardle
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