At Summit Forests, we know how hard and complex forestry jobs are and what a day of mahi looks like — but often our families don’t. To give them a bit of insight into the world of forestry and what we do, we hosted a Whanau Day, inviting over 40 family members to join us in Robertson Forest, Gisborne.
Supported by the Eastland Wood Council and Te Kawa a Tane, Whanau Day included the families of Tahurua Earthmovers & Jody Knowels Logging, who are creating a new road inside the Robertson Forest.
The aim of this initiative was to inform the whanau of our kaimahi about what they do in their daily jobs and give some context to their tamariki to help them understand what their parents/uncles/aunties/grandparents do. In turn, we hope they share this information with the wider community.
As we are enthusiastic to get our whole community involved in the culture of safety, we talked about the high level of skilled required and hazards you can find inside the forest and how important is to be aware of them. This included getting a good night’s rest, and maintaining good hydration and nutrition. The kids looked cute in their Hear4U hi-vis vests, ordered by ACC specially for the event.
We all shared lunch together and watched demonstrations of trees being mechanically felled, stripping of the road with a 30T excavator, and logs being fleeted. Bee the farm dog from next door also proved a hot favourite with the smaller whanau.
Our inaugural Gisborne Whanau Day was a great success and all attendees are eager to return at the end of the year to see the site’s progress.