Award Nominee

The Rasheed Memorial Dawah Trust (www.rmdt.org.nz) was founded in the memory of Auckland lawyer and pioneering interfaith worker Abdul Rahim Rasheed, and aims to engage peoples of all faith through collaborative action. They are a large and committed group with a focus on ecological action (amongst other things) and as part of their work the RMDT group have adopted a project site that forms part of the Lower Meola Restoration Project (LMRP) co-ordinated by Wai Care.

They have taken ownership of a particular site on Lower Meola Creek and have provided on-going rubbish collections, planting and weed maintenance since commencement of their involvement in 2010.

In terms of weeds, the group focuses their efforts on clearing tradescantia (Tradescantia fluminensis), willow weed (Epilobium cilliatum), nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and brush wattle (Paraserianthes lophantha) seedlings all of which require effective and long term control if the overall restoration project is to succeed.

While the RMDT have committed to remaining as the primary group to continue with restoration including planting and weeding events, the group welcomes corporate volunteers and the wider community assisting with restoration efforts as and when necessary. This also allows for achieving another of the groups objectives which is to encourage positive interactions between different cultures and religions by using the common thread of caring for the environment as a driver to bring people together.

The RMDT have been nominated due to their on-going dedication and commitment to achieving overall weed control at their site and also due to their unique community engagement approach which sees them bring together people from all different faiths and cultures to collaborate.