Shotover Primary’s enviro leaders are guiding a special community day at their local wetlands tomorrow — a place the school’s used as a living classroom for the past seven years.
Shotover Primary’s design, arts, technology and science teacher Emma Watts and Whakatipu Reforestation Trust education officer Jo Smith have been collaborating for years to deliver a hands-on, meaningful learning programme for students around conservation and climate change mitigation.
It’s further supported by Otago Regional Council, Queenstown’s council, Southern Lakes Sanctuary, Mana Tāhuna and Queenstown Airport.
The project started with an idea from Grant Stalker and the reforestation trust, taken on by teachers at the school.
Since 2016, the learning opportunities at the wetlands have been endless and, in some cases, life-changing for young people, particularly when it comes to taking action on climate change, Watts says.
‘‘They’ve learned how a wetland functions and why they’re essential for keeping water healthy.
‘‘We run lots of hands-on activities, too, like water-quality monitoring, predator tracking and trapping.
‘‘It’s that direct action — it’s so different to sitting and watching a video or having someone come and talk to us about climate change.
‘‘The kids want to do something, and they want to do it now.’’
With more than 2600 plants now in the ground, the native wetland plants have beautified the area and improved its biodiversity, something Smith says wouldn’t have been possible without the time, energy and donations received for the Educate for Nature programme.
And thanks to ‘‘significant’’ financial support from the airport, the project will go ‘‘on steroids’’ with next year’s crop of enviro leaders, she says.
Visitors to tomorrow’s open day can conduct a five-minute bird count, learn about the impact of mammalian predators on birdlife and why native wetland plants are so important — all guided by the students.
There’ll also be informative displays, made by students, about the work to date, with interactive stations at different points around the wetlands, led by experts, while students will guide attendees through various activities relating to wetland conservation.
They’ll also run a short presentation on why wetlands are so essential, and their vision for restoring the Shotover Wetlands.
A free sausage sizzle will run through out the event, which goes from 10am till 12.30pm regardless of the weather, with plenty of spot prizes up for grabs.
Access to the wetlands is either via the Twin Rivers Trail, or the Sanford Terrace entry.
