A Whakatāne community-led conservation project is providing school kids with the opportunity to plant native trees at the Kōpeopeo īnanga (whitebait) ponds.
The objective of the Halo Whakatāne and Trees for Survival project is to establish a more naturally sustainable region where children can learn the value of their environment through an educational lens, including revitalising the native īnanga (Galaxias maculatus) population in the town.
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The principal advisor for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Bruce Crabbe, says the īnanga pods are part of the council's plan to control the region's flood banks and create a more sustainable environment.
“These īnanga pods are part of our new project to strengthen and upgrade our stop banks and populate more native fish. And the idea is to use the soil that we excavate to create the īnanga ponds to strengthen the flood banks.”
He says the aim is to stabilise the ground and the underwater qualities and get local schools to help.
“It's really fantastic. It's exciting to see the kids here today with all these other organisations who have helped them raise the plants and now planting them. And hopefully, when they grow up they will take pride in how they planted these plants here in this area.”
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Bobbieanne Hughes (Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe) works as the education coordinator for Halo Whakatāne and Trees for Survival.
James Street School has been a huge part of this year's planting crop and she is excited to help the children learn and understand the importance of their mahi.
“I collected most of the seeds around the eastern Bay of Plenty, and we sent them to Auckland to be germinated and then to James Street School last year in September to give them the opportunity to grow them up to this stage.”
Hughes says the impact of colonisation has meant they have had to create more ways to nurture the environment.
“Due to the effects of colonisation, we have had to make stop banks and flood protection, which eventually ruined the natural habitats for native īnanga. And now, with the help of Halo Whakatāne, Trees for Survival and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, we are able to do this mahi with the children to create a kōhanga (nest) area for our īnanga so they can spawn and re-populate.”
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She says that planting native trees is most important in Kōpeopeo to strengthen the ground and feed the natural waterways for the īnanga.
“This site here has been created to be able to take water from high tide and hold the water in these holding ponds so the īnanga can come and lay their eggs, such as kōkopu, mārearea. Parts of our traditional practices have been lost to us in terms of what we would have done in the past, so we are really excited to do this mahi with our tamariki from James Street School”.
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Shelley Forster is a teacher from James Street School who has been involved with Halo Whakatāne to provide the opportunity for kids to learn how to nurture and sustain their local environment.
She says the children have been excited to plant their final products and do their part to take care of their environment.
“It has been a whole nine months of a waiting and nurturing game for these kids. They have been watering all these plants every day, learning how to create and manage watering systems. And since we have started, we now have another 1,000 trees waiting to be planted next month too.”
