Over three hundred tamariki attended the annual Te Taitokerau Enviroschools Encounter days across the region recently, with ‘Ngā Wai – freshwater’ the theme for the hui series.
The students from 21 schools and 14 early childhood education centres attended these Enviroschools days across Kaipara, Whangārei and the Far North during September and October 2024. The first of these events was held in Kaihu, Kaipara, at the Kauri Coast Top10 Holiday Park. The Whangārei event was held at Cafler Park and the adjacent Bowling Club. This was a huge event hosting 160 tamariki. Waiarohia Stream that runs through the park originates from Pukenui Forest and the Western Hills in Whangarei and was the focus for activities. In the Far North, the early childhood event was at the outdoor education camp, Lonsdale Park in Kaeo and the schools’ event was held nearby on private land bordering the Tākou River.
Learning how to safely deploy an aquatic bug bag.
Carefully measuring tuna.
“(We learnt) how much life is in the river and how healthy the river is,” a student commented.
School-age participants got to experience a range of activities that explore the freshwater habitats in the local areas, and ways to monitor healthy waterways. Aquatic bug bags – a concept developed by the Canterbury Enviroschools team – were created by participants to check out how healthy a waterway is back in their communities. The bags are put into awa for about three weeks then retrieved, with their newly in-residence macro-invertebrates identified and counted.
“It doesn’t matter if there are holes (in the bug bag) then bigger creatures can get in,” commented one participant.
Finding out about aquatic life and monitoring.
Watching the electric fishing equipment being used.
Tamariki navigate a ‘stormwater drain’ and image the life of ika and tuna.
Ngā Kaitiaki o Ngā Wai Māori, Department of Conservation and Northland Regional Council staff led rotations in electric fishing, river hydrology and te whakapapa o te wai via Kapa Haka.
Early childhood tamariki identified freshwater species with Whitebait Connection, crawled through a mocked-up stormwater drain to imagine the life of a fish, played awa bingo and removed waste from a ‘pond’ with EcoSolutions. Tamariki also had the option of face-painting, dress-ups and awa story time.
“(We discovered) the whakapapa of water,” said one tamariki.
Identifying fish species.
Experiencing the impact of waste on wai.
Northland Regional Council chairman Geoff Crawford said, “The council was proud to be hosting creative and innovative freshwater events that help children and their teachers with environmental learning and action.”
Banner image: Celebrating the successful creation of bug bags.