Forgotten Fauna Hui a fun day of learning for Whanganui enviroschools

Students from Brunswick School learning about electrofishing equipment. Photo/ Supplied

Student representatives from seven enviroschools in Whanganui attended Horizons Regional Council’s Forgotten Fauna Hui on Tuesday (March 30).

Joined by Horizons freshwater and biodiversity teams, students learnt about the less charismatic native creatures – such as pekapeka (bats), mokomoko (lizards) and ika (fish).

Students explored Westmere’s Bason Botanic Gardens in a scavenger hunt and participated in interactive table kōrero. Information sheets and taxidermy models helped teach students about each native creature’s different habitats, feeding patterns, and threats to their wellbeing.

Senior environmental educator and the day’s coordinator, Sarah Williams, says she is always impressed with the keen attitudes of the students at these hui.

“Students love the interactive elements of the day, and learning about how to identify these animals and their habitats means they can take this knowledge back to their school communities and continue their learning after the hui.”

She says the day ended with action planning in which students were asked about ways they thought they could take what they learnt back to school and share their knowledge with the wider school community.

“There were a lot of great ideas generated, and we hope to follow up with these schools in future to see what action they might be undertaking with their new knowledge and tools. Horizons and enviroschools facilitators have also worked together to supply each school with a tube they can use to start their “lizard lounges”, which is a great first step in taking action on what they’ve learnt today in their school environments.”

Schools were sent off with a resource kete (basket) each – which included a book about native fish and a native plant that serves as a starter for creating their own lizard-friendly garden.

Teacher Shenay Rattray, from St George’s School, says her students enjoyed the interactive elements of the day’s activities.

“It’s been a great combination of fun and engagement with the scavenger hunt, and the information that we’re learning at the different stations is very interesting. It was awesome to hear that the programme is going to support us in learning how we are going to take this back to our school. We thought the students would enjoy making a ‘lizard lounge’ and using the tracking tunnels are a helpful way that we can figure out what’s in our school area.”

Sarah says the resounding highlight for most of the students was the live fish caught by Horizons’ freshwater team in the catchment at the gardens.

“Live traps were set the night before, with the fish kept cool in a tank of circulating water and released at the end of the day. On behalf of the enviroschools team, I’d like to thank the schools for a successful day and look forward to bringing this hui to more enviroschools within the Horizons’ region in the near future.”