Digital ka¯ka¯ soaring through capital

A virtual world starring Kaia the ka¯ka¯ has been set up in Wellington’s Central Park in a bid to draw children back to the wild and teach them how to protect the environment.

Nature has become ‘‘a boring reality’’, and technology could be a way to help grow children’s consciousness about protecting wildlife, according to the game’s developers.

Kaia The Ka¯ka¯: Help Defend Ta¯ne’s Realm has been set up in the Brooklyn park for a month’s trial. It uses Facebook Messenger to interact with players (7 to 12 years) operating a hand-held device under adult supervision.

Their quest is to help Kaia find a safe nest for her chicks. A series of challenges against the clock, such as rescuing ka¯ka¯ from looming predators, are dotted around the park’s green spaces.

Kaia responds to players when they write messages, and the app then sends out photos and clues.

The project is a collaboration between Nature Through Arts Collective, Enspiral, Niko & Co and Lift Education. It has been aligned with Predator Free NZ.

Nature Through Arts Collective co-director Nikki Wright said the game aimed to ‘‘awaken environmental curiosity and interest’’ and draw on children’s love of games and technological skills.

The game’s development draws on some of the research done by Imaginative Ecological Education, the Children and Nature Network and Department of Conservation (DOC) that looked into the benefits of connecting young people with nature.

DOC’s research coincided with the Government’s Investing In Conservation Education For A Sustainable And Prosperous Future, which showed children played indoors more often than out and labelled it as ‘‘nature-deficit disorder’’.

It said the increasingly urbanised world saw fewer children with opportunities to play in nature, which had ‘‘detrimental effects on humans’’.

Wright said while the game was developed as an ‘‘imaginative’’ way to re-ignite a natural excitement in the outdoors.

The game follows on from Imagine My City, which was launched in 2015. It aimed to empower young people to take ownership of the future and the ability they had to create naturerich environments.

Enspiral’s Damian Sligo-Green said Kaia The Ka¯ka¯ created a ‘‘magical and lasting experience’’. There were ongoing plans to develop the game, with more complex narratives and technology.

The project’s trial runs until December 16. The first check-in point is by the map sign at Central Park’s main gates.