Invasive pests under spotlight
Students from two Te Puke schools have joined 40 Western Bay of Plenty schoolchildren for two days of hands-on biosecurity lessons.
Pupils from Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Matai and Te Kura o Maketu¯ were among those selected to work alongside scientists, iwi and other experts in both marine and native bush environments.
The culturally-infused programme is part of a biosecurity week events calendar co-ordinated by the newly-launched Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital collective.
On Thursday, the students gathered at Tauranga Bridge Marina to check pest crab traps and study aquatic species alongside scientists from continue being kaitiaki beyond the day’s activities.
Reon Tuanau, who is overseeing the programme on behalf of Te Ru¯nanga o Nga¯i Te Rangi Iwi Trust, hopes the Mana Taiao programme will help protect Tauranga Moana from future biosecurity incursions.
“We’re in a very, very scary time in terms of biosecurity with the invasive species,” Reon says.
“This port is the busiest export port in New Zealand, also we’ve got a busy airport, so we’ve got all these threats . . . surrounding us.
“We need to work with our rangatahi, our young ones, and we need to start arming them. Today is about passing on knowledge, starting to get them thinking around biosecurity . . . and hopefully, in the years to come, they become the leaders of the future in terms of protecting the taonga that we have here.”
Dr Kaeden Leonard, biosecurity specialist at the Coastal Marine Field Station, echoes Mr Tuanau’s biosecurity fears.
“There definitely needs to be a lot more education out there with regards to how we could be affected,” Kaeden says.
“It’s not just the marine industry. It’s all of us. And so these sorts of wa¯nanga for our youth are a really important part of our awareness campaign.”
The wa¯nanga is the result of a collaboration between the University of Waikato and Tauranga Moana iwi, Manaaki Te Awanui, Kiwifruit Vine Health, the Department of Conservation, Predator Free BOP, Manaaki Whenua, Landcare Trust, BOP Regional Council, Niwa and MPI.