Predator Free Port Hills’ (PFPH) pilot education programme has been so successful they’re getting calls from schools across Canterbury wanting to sign up.
Trialed across four Christchurch primary schools, the programme helps students make connections between on-ground actions and long-term outcomes.
“It instils the value of volunteering, caring and doing something that the students might not see or experience an immediate benefit from, like planting a tōtara. There’s a real ‘citizen science’ aspect to this programme, which reinforces that they are now part of a bigger network of people who care for New Zealand's environment. These ākonga experience both the joy and responsibility of caring for nature, for their benefit and for the benefit of all the people to come,” said PFPH Coordinator, Natasha McIntosh.
Students start the programme by doing a ‘stock take’ of their school environment, identifying the biodiversity that is present and the threats to that biodiversity. They then establish trap networks appropriate to the pest and predator threats, they monitor the health of local waterways, and they start to make the connection between what they do and how the natural world responds.
“The beauty of working with children is that they go home and inspire and educate their parents and caregivers. Kids are a great source of inspiration and it’s through them that we can get the whole community active in understanding and protecting their local ecosystem.”
Importantly for teaching staff, the programme aligns with the school's learning focus, and it is adapted to the particular environment at the school and its surrounding community.
“We start their discovery in their school environment, and then gradually move outwards. We undertake trapping in local parks, riparian planting by local streams, we do estuary and coastal monitoring. Students start to understand how ecosystems connect, and it doesn’t take them long to start to understand the role they play in ecosystem health” said McIntosh.
Te Raekura Redcliffs School Principal, Nick Leith, praised the programme for its focus on growing good citizens. “We were excited to get involved in the programme, which teaches students to be kaitiaki (guardians) of our local area. The programme not only empowers students to become conservation-minded individuals, but it also connects them with the dedicated volunteers and experts already doing great work in our community.”
The programme will soon be rolled out to Halswell and Woolston primary schools, with a view to making it widely available to city and Selwyn District schools in the longer term.
The partners involved were Living Springs, Conservation Volunteers, Enviroschools, Redcliffs Residents Association, Barnett Park, and Mt. Vernon Park.