The launch of a new conservation programme in Taupō today hopes to set an example for other regions.
Kids Greening Taupō is an educational initiative supported by Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Department of Conservation along with a number of other groups the initiative itself is actually run by student from five local schools with in the Taupō area.
Students involved in the programme see how the community works and how nature plays a huge part in the development of a community. The projects that have been completed are based around creating green nature spaces to encourage wild life to return to communities with in Taupō.
Dylan Tahau of Ngāti Tūwharetoa says that this initiative covers many fields in learning for these children, “The children are leaning the connection and relationships between the land, water which includes the conservation of these area.”
Kids Greening Taupō is based on the very successful Kids Restore the Kepler project in Fiordland. The Taupō programme is about taking the key ingredients of Kids Restore the Kepler, set in a national park, and transplanting it to retro-fit biodiversity into the local Taupō urban setting.
The Taupō programme piggy backs on the community conservation initiative, Greening Taupō, a collaboration between the community, Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board, the Department of Conservation, local schools, businesses and the Taupō District Council.