Project Crimson

Project Crimson is a conservation initiative to promote the protection of the pōhutukawa and the rātā which are under threat due to browsing by the introduced common brushtail possum.

The vision of the project is to "enable pōhutukawa and rātā to flourish again in their natural habitat as icons in the hearts and minds of all New Zealanders.

"[1] The initiative for Project Crimson grew out of a Forest Research Institute investigation (1989) into the health of pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa).

Disturbed by these findings, staff from Northland Department of Conservation and New Zealand Forest Products now Carter Holt Harvey) came up with the idea of creating a community-based project to help pōhutukawa.

Project Crimson has made impressive progress re-establishing pōhutukawa and rātā nationwide by planting over 300,000 trees, coordinating and supporting a wide range of maintenance activities, scientific research, possum control programmes and public education.