Enviroschools Forgotten Fauna Student Hui blooms again

Horizons deputy chair and Tōtara Reserve Advisory Board chair Fiona Gordon says the hui was designed to teach students about our unique but often overlooked native fauna such as bats and lizards.

“The Forgotten Fauna Hui has been run a few times for school groups across the region, including earlier this year in Taumarunui.

“Students learn about these special native species which are not often seen in the wild and take away knowledge of how they can actively make an impact to preserve these animal groups and ecosystems,” Ms Gordon says.

Approximately 90 students from Takaro, Awahou, and Palmerston North Boys’ High schools attended over the two days, with many never having visited the reserve before.  

“Tōtara Reserve’s unique visitor areas makes it the perfect place for bug hunting, bat investigation and close encounters with lizards. Students even found a peripatus, otherwise known as a velvet worm, a rarely seen invertebrate on their bug hunt” Ms Gordon says.

Horizons’ biodiversity team and Alastair Cole, a native lizard enthusiast with a DOC permit to hold lizards for education purposes, facilitated this learning through interactive activities and a hands-on experience with some animals.

Senior environmental educator Sarah Williams says the students love the hands-on experiences the hui provides.

“A vote is held at the end of the day for the students to express which activity was their favourite. It’s no surprise that the interactive lizard rotation was the winner,” Ms Williams says.

“Tōtara Reserve is a great area that has a lot of opportunities for students to get out of the classroom and do some practical learning,

“Being able to immerse yourself in nature puts classroom knowledge into perspective, empowering young people to take action in areas that are important to them.” Ms Williams says.

Currently, the park is mainly used for day visits, a range of nature walks and as a seasonal campground. However, the Tōtara Reserve, Reserve Management Plan highlights the goal of diversifying what is offered at the Reserve to increase the utilisation of the place.

“We have developed an education hub at Tōtara Reserve where we will be offering free education kits for schools to borrow when they visit as we are keen for more schools to choose the reserve as a place of learning,” Ms Williams says.

The education kits can be booked by emailing Horizons’ education team at education@horizons.govt.nz.