A great team of students from Kelston Intermediate came out to Matuku Link to experience our very first Wetland Education Program session – Te kaupapa rohe koreporepo.
This all boys team lead by kaiako John and his colleagues were super engaged with all we shared with them: from Brian Ireland’s introduction of the most important te reo words of the day and acknowledging Te Kawerau A Maki, mana whenua of this region, to John Stanilands’ talk about kahikatea (and pointing out that these trees are either boys or girls!) to their exercises to identify macroinvertebrates, lead by Hohepa Waenga. All our education volunteers helped them to compare the quality of the water based on the temperature, clarity and inhabitants – a hands-on activity for all of them. The afternoon focused on birds – how to read bird bands (from left to right, top to bottom), identify birds by their song, and use the binoculars to spot (stuffed) birds with their color bands.
It was a great day and I’m not sure who enjoyed it more: the students and their teachers, or our trustees who saw the final part of our Matuku Link vision come to fruition!
We’ve got a couple more schools booked in for the coming weeks – let us know if you’re interested to join our team of volunteers, or if you are interested to bring your school group out here for a full immersion Wetland program.
Nga mihi, Annalily (manager) & Leah (educator) – schools@matukulink.org.nz
Photos taken by several volunteers – thank you!
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