Kids Greening Taupō: Looking back at 2023

Student leaders like Jamie Ross often show the Taupō community how it's done, as at this planting day in May.

2023 was another bumper year for Kids Greening Taupō, with 10 community planting days seeing more than 38,000 trees planted.

Kids Greening Taupō works with 20 early childhood centres and kōhanga reo, as well as all 16 of Taupō's schools and kura, helping students to get involved with planting, trapping and learning about conservation in Aotearoa.

Angela Schur, a Year 10 Kids Greening Taupō student leader at Tauhara College this year, gave us a look into a community planting day back in August.

Angela Schur was a Year 10 Kids Greening Taupō student leader for 2023.

Kids Greening Taupō, a non-profit organisation that works alongside Greening Taupō, supports young people by growing their leadership skills and passion for the environment through hands-on experiences and a range of real-life opportunities.

Spa Park holds a lot of significance to Kids Greening Taupō (KGT) as the site has hosted this planting day every year since the first one in 2017.

The planting sites can be seen from the mountain bike trail, starting near the carpark and heading down to the stream.

Spa Park has also been the location for other KGT initiatives, such as creating a bug hotel, setting up a Kiwi Guardians post, and predator trapping.

2023′s student-led planting day was a success: the day began with a greeting and karakia along with a tree-planting tutorial.

The volunteers eagerly set to work following the example of the student leaders.

It was remarkable to see all the progress being made due to the great effort of the attendees, who were rewarded with a sausage sizzle and icecream afterwards!

Beyond planting, other activities were offered, including rat trap building, face painting, disc golf, and a couple of small games for kids.

Almost 200 people turned up to help out and contribute to the community event, planting the species tī kōuka (cabbage tree), toetoe, mānuka, kānuka, kāramu, and mānatu (ribbonwood).

The plants were given a beneficial boost by being planted with a scoop of vermicast donated by MyNoke.

In total, 1700 trees donated by Taupō District Council were planted, enriching old planting sites, as well as extending to a new site a short walk away.

Attendees of the planting day complimented the student leaders coordinating the day, with two participants leaving glowing feedback.

“Great effort student leaders! Thank you for your organisation and help!”

“It’s neat to see student leaders taking initiatives and roles.”

As a student-led planting, the majority of jobs were taken on by the KGT student leaders including the registration table, disc-golf area, and the introduction at the beginning of the day.

It was great that the community was able to join in and support the event.

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