Cheshta Hurnauth has been with the Novaterra team for over six months now, working to beautify the alleys of Beau Plan and take care of its vegetation. It’s a huge project, and we recently caught up with her to learn more about this exciting work.
Hello Cheshta! How did you come to work at Novaterra?
After studying Crop Technology Minor Landscape Management at the University of Mauritius, I started working for various companies, collaborating on residential and hotel projects such as Mont Choisy Park, Intercontinental Balaclava, Sunrise Attitude Belle Mare, and Erock real estate project. My experiences led me to Terra, where I joined the Novaterra team as a Landscaping Team Leader in August 2022.
It’s a great opportunity because the company didn’t really have a landscaper until now, she continued. While it is a big challenge, having control over this aspect of territorial development will allow us to create beautiful things in Beau Plan.
Why did you choose this profession?
I have always been passionate about nature, Cheshta replied. When I was younger, I tried hydroponics and did a lot of personal experiments to better understand plants. I was fortunate to be able to study in this field, which was not a saturated industry at the time, and I specialized in landscaping. My various jobs allowed me to gain experience by working on large-scale projects with diverse teams… That’s what brought me here!
As a Landscaping Team Leader, what are your responsibilities at Novaterra?
My responsibility is to maintain the green spaces of the city and different residential neighbourhoods to make them pleasant places to visit, where users of the city will enjoy spending time. I will also work on future projects in collaboration with the Projects department and take over maintenance.
This job leads me to face different challenges. The lack of water that affects the entire country is worrying, and I am looking for solutions to use as little water as possible in our projects. We thus prioritize plants and grass that require little water such as crabgrass, bougainvillea, or pennisetums, and endemic species, which are obviously particularly adapted to our climate.
Finally, other ambitious projects await us, such as the roundabout in Beau Plan: we are preparing to redesign it to beautify it and bring some colour. Stay tuned to see the result!
What can we wish you for the future?
I am fortunate to have a job that is anything but boring: we are constantly in the field, we can improve the landscapes over time… Also, it is a real challenge to work with living species. In order for the result to be up to par, we have no choice: we must do it well! It is really rewarding.
Do you have a favorite plant?
It’s hard to say, I work with so many plants! But I would say plumbago, which produces blue or white flowers and is almost always in bloom. You can see it at Le Hameau roundabout, and also very soon at the entrance to the city on the Beau Plan roundabout!
