The Kaitiaki Crusader (a.k.a. David Cade)
Merit Award for Dedication to Weedbusting
Region: Waikato
Award Category: Waikato
Year: 2012
I would like to nominate David Cade for a weedbusters award. David works tirelessly on the Hinemaiaia River, both upper and lower reaches. He has single handed almost eliminated all the buddliea and other noxious weeds. I live in Hatepe and he comes and collects me to show me all the work he has done. He gets everyone so enthusiastic. He stops on the side of the roads collecting cans which he crushes by hand and sells to buy natives for replanting. He does all this in his own time with the occasional help from his son Bradley who is now at university and not able to help as much. Not only does he do all the weed busting, but he also has 142 traps on the river to catch rats, mice, ferrets, stoats etc and has had amazing success in increasing the bird life on the river and in Hatepe. Not only does he do all this work, he takes time to teach children and adults alike to look after our surrounds. All I can say, is he is such an amazing person, always has a joke and a smile and it would be so wonderful if he was given an award in recognition of all the fantastic work he does and it would make everyone who knows him so proud. He and I work together in as far as I try and get funding for him to pay for all the sprays, baits etc. We have a strong Residents’ Association in Hatepe and for the first time last year was able to provide him with more funding. To show how committed he is, his boots were literally falling to bits and it took a lot of convincing to get him to use some of the funds to buy a new pair.