Living Legends
Living Legends, a community conservation initiative uniting rugby and conservation, will run 17 native tree planting projects throughout New Zealand during Rugby World Cup 2011. Each project is managed in partnership with New Zealand provincial rugby unions and will be dedicated to a regional 'Rugby Legend' selected by the unions.
"Living Legends is a fantastic opportunity for New Zealanders and visitors to contribute to enhancing New Zealand's environment, and leave a lasting treasure in some of our most iconic natural areas," says Minister of Conservation Kate Wilkinson. "We want to see 5,000 trees planted at each of the 17 sites this year, with plans to increase that to 10,000 each site by the end of the project in 2015."
The Rugby Legends are:
Northland – Richie Guy
North Harbour – Wayne Shelford
Auckland – Bryan Williams
Waikato – Duane Monkley
Bay of Plenty – Hika Reid
King Country – Sir Colin Meads
Taranaki/Wanganui – Ian Eliason
Hawke’s Bay – Ian MacRae
Manawatu – Sam Strahan
Horowhenua/Kapiti – Christian Cullen
Wellington/Wairarapa – Sir Brian Lochore
Tasman – Todd Blackadder
Buller/West Coast – John Sturgeon
Canterbury – Tane Norton
Mid Canterbury/South Canterbury – Jock Ross
North Otago/Otago – Kees Meeuws
Southland – Kevin Laidlaw
These Rugby Legends were selected for their significant contribution to New Zealand rugby, either as a player or administrator for their region.
Living Legends is a venture of environmental charity Project Crimson, with funding from The Tindall Foundation to kickstart the project. You can find all of the information about their events at www.livinglegends.co.nz and take a look at their video.