Westland High School International Student Programme visits South Westland

The experience enabled Westland High School’s international students to immerse themselves in nature and to connect with South Westland communities, tourism business owners and Department of Conservation biodiversity staff.

DWC’s Nature Economy Project Lead, Zak Shaw explained, the trip came together in two phases.

“A conversation with Jane Brownie, Westland High School’s International Programme Director and students, identified what the main learning outcomes would be and the experiences the students hoped to gain. The students identified that giving back to nature and leaving a positive impact was important to them.”

The students also wanted to complete a comparison study, gaining knowledge of conservation approaches being used in New Zealand, and to contrast these against the conservation methodologies used within their home country of Germany.

In hitting the road, the student group had a clear sense of what their trip would be about. To aid discussions comparing conservation approaches in Aotearoa and Germany, Hokitika raised, Lukas Drnasin, joined Clara Stummeyer, Grete Weichert, Hannah Rudzio, Richard Ebeler and Jane Brownie for the experience.

Arriving in Whataroa, the group first connected with Dion Arnold of White Heron Sanctuary Tours. Dion shared the history of land use on the Whataroa Flats, including the native timber industry, agriculture and the Arnold family’s long involvement in providing ecotourism experiences. He provided details of his experience in contributing to Predator Free South Westland and how efforts to eliminate predator’s numbers is boosting biodiversity within the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve, NZ’s only Kotuku, White Heron nesting site.

From Whataroa, the group took a short drive to farmland recently retired by the Purcell family. The group were met at the ‘Purcell Reserve’ by members of the Ōkārito Plant Project, to continue restoration planting efforts. Over a period of three hours, the group planted over 260 natives into the site, and learned about the projects purpose of supporting water quality and increasing biodiversity. Prior to dinner the group learned about Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) innovative approaches to eliminating predators across 107,000 hectares in South Westland. Of particular interest to the group was ZIP’s involvement in the Native Carbon Initiative. The initiative is a collaborative research programme currently being conducted by SCION, NIWA and ZIP to prove that animal management generates additional carbon in native forests. The evening was spent enjoying a bonfire on the beach at Ōkārito.

On day two, Iain Graham, a biodiversity ranger working for the Department of Conservation and his Kiwi Conservation dog, Brew, joined the students for a walk to the Ōkārito trig. At the viewing platform, Iain shared details of his long involvement in Operation Nest Egg, Aotearoa’s nationwide Kiwi recovery programme. He told stories about the work he does in partnership with the Kea Conservation Trust to better understand Kea travel ranges. Iain had on hand examples of the innovative technology being used by field staff, including light weight harnesses housing GPS, and leg bands which hold RFID microchips on Kea to better monitor the whereabouts of individual birds. Iain also used a speaker to play a variety of Kea calls and spoke about live capture techniques. Students also learned about the required training for Kiwi Conservation dogs and their value in supporting conservation efforts. In the afternoon the students completed a loop back to Ōkārito via the 3 mile Lagoon Track. In addition to the stunning views of the Waiau Glacier Coast Marine Reserve, students were also lucky enough to spot a Tawaki (Fiordland Crested Penguin) along the way.

The following morning the group met up with Paula Sheridan and Swade Finch of Ōkārito Boat Tours to explore NZ’s largest unmodified wetland, the Ōkārito Lagoon. On the boat the group encountered a variety of wildlife and gained a deeper understanding of the areas UNESCO World Heritage status.

From the perspective of being out on the lagoon the students were able to get a full view of the landscape and their experience.

Jane Brownie summed things up on behalf of Westland High School. “The impact we have made by visiting South Westland and learning about the environment is that our group of young people (some from the other side of the world) have learned a huge amount about local flora, fauna and the international importance of forests, wetlands and biodiversity.

"The education of people both young and old is crucial if we are to be able to gain traction on climate change and the survival of endemic species. Not only did students gain an awareness of how important it is to give back to nature, students and I had a really great time in the process. Westland High School is very grateful to the support of DWC with this educational experience.”