School Students Working Together for Ecological Restoration

The Pūtikitiki Stream is at the heart of the AJ Seeley Gully Reserve: it flows along the floor of the gully on its way from Claudelands to the Waikato River. But the Reserve is not the only part of the stream catchment where people are restoring the bush and working to increase biodiversity. In particular, we have some pretty important neighbours: Hamilton Boys’ High School, Marian  School and Hamilton East School.

Students on rubbish patrol On rubbish patrol (from left): Arnav, Elliot, Agney and Arlen.

Each of these schools have the stream or a tributary within its grounds. Each has been engaged in bush restoration for some time and all are now trapping to support biodiversity. Along with the Seeley Gully Reserve, the schools are in a strategic position to enhance the bush corridor connecting Claudelands and Hamilton East with the Waikato River.

Hamilton East School

Hamilton East School is downstream from the Seeley Gully Reserve. Over the last few years, the bank above Pūtikitiki  (bottom flat) has been planted in natives and a winding track formed: Te Ara o Ngahere (the bush trail). Trapping has been part of the programme for a while but got a boost last year when some of the old traps were replaced with new ones donated by the Seeley Gully Trust and Predator Free NZ.

Ākonga learning about traps

Under the guidance of kaiako (teachers) Georgia Cox-Wright and Greg Parkinson, ākonga (students) are taught how the traps work. The “Enviro Kaitiaki Tamariki” check the traps and when a catch is made, they let teachers know. That is, to protect little fingers, it is the role of kaiako to empty and reset the traps. As Arielle Driver (age 10) wrote, “You need to make sure that an adult is resetting the trap.” Arielle also noted “We have found out that rats like peanut butter.” 

Jamie Carmichael (also age 10) has produced a graphic explainer on how to bait a trap (see box). Last year, a Year 5 and 6 class and their kaiako held funerals for the rats when they buried them. After all, rats are sentient beings. It is not their fault that they are where they are, but being “neutral” in the contest between introduced predators and native species is not very helpful.

Jamie Carmichael’s graphic explainer on how to bait a trap

Marian  School

The southern branch of the Pūtiktiki stream runs through the edge of Marian School. There, restoration of the gully was started by long-time caretaker, Greg Jordon. These days, that work is being carried on by Greg’s son, Ryan. Ryan, who teaches new entrants, takes his class for regular walks through the gully to check traps (also donated by the Trust and Predator Free NZ). This is not just about checking traps: it is also age-appropriate natural science as ākonga examine seeds, plants and insects and discuss their role in the ecosystem. Older ākonga collect seeds and are growing seedlings to support the further restoration of the bush. At lunch times, the gate at the top of the gully is opened and ākonga are able to explore the bush and play in the grassed clearing in the middle.

Ryan Jordan teaching new entrants about traps

Hamilton Boys’ High School

Downstream from Marian School is Hamilton Boys’ High. There science teacher Erin Winslade is overseeing restoration planting and trapping but there is also a very active student group led by Nikash Lanka and brothers Michael and Jonathan Crowther. These year 13 students oversee weekly working bees which typically attract more than 30 ākonga. The working bees focus on releasing plants, removing noxious weeds and clearing rubbish. Like many gullies in Kirikiriroa, post raupatu, this area has often been regarded as a rubbish dump.

Group leaders (from left) Michael Crowther, Nikash Lanka and Jonathan Crowther.

Ākonga can earn points towards service awards for participating in working bees. While this undoubtedly helps recruitment, as one student commented, the points “mean we get involved in something we enjoy and in the end that (enjoyment) is what keeps us coming.”

Nikash, Michael and Jonathan are in their last year at Boys’ High and thinking about the future. They are identifying younger ākonga who could take over leadership of the group. They also have their eye on the bigger picture. The work has been supported by grants from the Parent-Teacher Association which have financed the purchase of equipment and protective gloves.

Nikash and his colleagues have made presentations to the Board of Trustees, to let them know that:

"the gully is an important part of our school and not every school has an environment like this – proving to them that we are worth supporting… that we are a group with a future, that we are bringing younger students on board".

Last year, the Board granted the group $5,000 which was used to bring in contractors who could do some of the weed control the students couldn't such as drilling into trees and injecting them with herbicides.

Like the other two schools, Boys’ High is trapping in their part of the gully. They have experienced some problems with trap tunnels being knocked over so they began to peg them to the ground with reinforcing steel. This made them harder to service so they have modified some tunnels by putting a hatch in the top.

Picture: Modified trap tunnel

A systems approach

While humans are often quite keen to draw boundaries and build fences, nature takes a more free-flowing approach. Exotic plants and predators spread easily. Restoring the bush and enhancing biodiversity require a systemic approach.

Along with the Seeley Gully Trust and a growing number of residents In Hamilton East, the three schools are working together to restore the native vegetation and reduce predator numbers along our bush corridor. And within this broader picture, the schools are helping tamariki and rangatahi to step up and become kaitiaki of te taiao (guardians of the environment).