Hauraki Gulf Forum
I was lucky as I was able to go to a seminar at Auckland Museum. There were lots of important scientists and environmental experts at the seminar. They were talking about all the things that people are doing to try and keep the Hauraki Marine Reserve a safe place for whales, dolphins and sea birds as well as people. They talked about the plans they had for the future too and how they wanted to make a Marine Spatial Plan so that the harbour could be used by everyone but without damaging the environment. There is a fantastic exhibition on called Moana - My Sea that shows what is under the ocean.
Three important scientists won awards for the work that they are doing to help the whales and birds in the Hauraki Gulf:
Dr Rochelle Constantine for helping to save the Brydes whale.
Keith Woodley for working with godwits at the Miranda Shorebird Centre
Chris Gaskin for his work with the rediscovery of the NZ storm petrel
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/
Dame Anne Salmond is the New Zealander of the Year. She talked about a project called Te Awaroa - 1000 rivers. Her plan is to restore the health of a 1000 rivers in New Zealand. It will be a joint project working with lots of groups including Enviroschools - so that means us.
Kamo Primary has already started. When we monitor the water in the Otapapa Stream and plant trees along the stream banks to keep the water clean and cool, we are helping to restore our water ways.
Ark in the Park www.arkinthepark.org.nz
In the Waitakere Ranges in Auckland there is a special park called Ark in the Park. The Ark in the Park is a Forest and Bird restoration project in the Cascade Kauri Park, northern Waitakere Ranges, Auckland. Why do you think they called it that?
It is a special forest where they have been trapping for pests for a long time and now they can reintroduce birds that had diappeared from the park. This is where they brought kōkako back into the forest. It is a beautiful forest full of giant Kauri trees. Do you know another forest where you can see a lot of giant kauri?
I talked to the staff and learnt all about their trapping program and how they look after the park. This is what we want to do in Pukenui Forest. If we can get rid of enough of the pests then we can bring back some of the birds that have gone like the kōkako and the kiwi.
The most important thing that I have learnt so far is that conservation is all about getting rid of the pests that are destroying the forest and eating the birds eggs and killing the young birds. There are lots of them. That's why we have to put traps and poison in to the forest. How many can you name ?
rats possums stoats ferrets cats dogs pigs goats
Somethings eat the same food as the native birds and insects and then there is not enough food for the native animals to survive.
mice hedgehogs rabbits
Some bugs are so small we can't see them like the Kauri die-back disease. We don't want to lose all the beautiful Kauri trees so we have to be careful that we don't spread the disease from place to place on our shoes. These are brushes to clean the mud off your shoes and spray guns to spray them with disinfectant.
Kaipatiki Project
http://www.kaipatiki.org.nz/
The Kaipatiki Project is a project set up by the community. A group of volunteers wanted to look after the water ways so they started clearing weeds and planting native plants to keep the streams clean and cool.
Lots of people came to help and soon they had a whole organisation with a nursery full of native plants ready to be planted.
I spent a morning helping to count the trays of plants in the greenhouse and learning about eco-sourcing seeds from places near where they will be planted.
I watched other people potting on the seedlings into bigger pots ready to be put outside.
I asked lots of questions and tried to learn as much as I could but I think I will have to go back and volunteer again so that I can learn more.
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Here are some of the plant names I tried to learn.
Graduation
September 24th
