The launch of Ngā Rākau Hauora Education Programme in collaboration with Lincoln University took place last month.
Run by Te Toa Whenua, Ngā Rākau Hauora welcomed 60 tamariki from three different schools in the Hokianga and Kaipara region. The students were taught about seed and plant propagation, seed collecting and the weed eradication efforts of Te Toa Whenua.
Courtney Davis, Project Coordinator at Te Toa Whenua (TTW) said tamariki were taught about native plant identification, seed collecting and native plant propagation and how to grow plants at home. She describes the first session was ‘amazing!’.
“The children were propagating manuka and other native species in the TTW nursery. This is the first part of the programme and we will be supporting the Te Roroa Tourism team, the Lincoln University team and The Kauri Project team for an in-classroom component in the Te Roroa Visitor Centre. The tamariki will be coming back at the beginning of June to spend the day doing tree planting on the whenua.”
The Tindall Foundation is proud to be funding and supporting this kaupapa. We are committed to help in the restoration of native forests and planting of trees.
Since its inception Te Toa Whenua has made significant progress in a number of areas. In the last year the Weed Eradication team stayed on top of weeds in a number of active management areas. The team have also established seed islands and planted over 10,000 native trees. The nursery team have propagated 20,000 seedlings in the last six months and are beginning on the construction on a native tree nursery. There is now a small orchard, garden area and educational hub on site and the team is rolling out a number of workshops to grow this educational space. A network of bait stations has helped remove around 5,000 possums from the forest.
Says Courtney, “Despite the huge scope of the project, the growing capacity, involvement and development of our people gives us hope for the future of this intergenerational project.”