Whanganui Enviroschool students learn how to protect forgotten native species

Students from Brunswick School learn about electrofishing equipment at the Forgotten Fauna Hui.

Forgotten native creatures were given the limelight in a day of learning for Whanganui Enviroschools.

The Forgotten Fauna Hui allowed student representatives from seven Enviroschools to be taught about native pekapeka [bats], mokomoko [lizards] and ika [fish].

Students visited Westmere’s Bason Botanic Gardens to learn about each native creature’s different habitats, feeding patterns, and threats to their wellbeing.

Senior environmental educator Sarah Williams said students loved the interactive elements of the day.

“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,” she said.

Each school was given a tube to use to start their own ‘lizard lounge’, with a native plant that could be a friendly habitat for native mokomoko.

Teacher Shenay Rattray, from St George’s School, said the day was a great combination of fun and learning engagement.

“We thought the students would enjoy making a lizard lounge, and using the tracking tunnels is a helpful way [for us to] figure out what’s in our school area.”

Williams said they hoped to bring the Forgotten Fauna Hui to more Enviroschools within the Horizons region in the near future.

“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.”

The day ended with action planning, where Williams said students thought of ways to 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.”

The Forgotten Fauna Hui was led by the freshwater and biodiversity teams from Horizons Regional Council on March 28.