Students become Kiwi guardians

‘‘It's cool because you can visit different sites and collect the medals as you go.’’ Rickie-Lee Scanlon

Collecting guardian medals is something families can now do around the Waikato.

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is just one location supporting the new Toyota Kiwi Guardian Programme, which is a family friendly activity that encourages young people to explore and experiment with conservation.

Visitor centre co-ordinator Rickie-Lee Scanlon said there were three sites in the Waikato that were homes to ‘‘guardian posts’’ which had code words written on them.

The idea was to find the post, take a photo of the code word or write it down, and then visit the Department of Conservation website and enter the details to claim a guardian medal.

‘‘There is a map that can be downloaded from our website which leads you to the post, and it’s just about getting families interested in nature,’’ said Scanlon.

Other Waikato sites with guardian posts are Lake Rotopiko and Waireinga Bridal Veil Falls, but it is a nationwide initiative.

‘‘It’s cool because you can visit different sites and collect the medals as you go,’’ she said.

‘‘And receiving them in the mail like the old days is really neat for the kids, they enjoy having something sent to them.’’

The Waikato region was the first to be launched with maps in Maori as well as English.

Several schools have taken part in the programme and international people have enjoyed it as well.

‘‘It’s aimed at families, but anyone can do it.

‘‘It’s about an hour round trip, we tried to make it a good time frame for children,’’ Scanlon said.

As well as earning their explorer medal, they can earn an activity medals by completing some online tasks such as becoming a weed warrior, attracting lizards to the garden and much more.

The activities are aimed at conservation. One is to build a weta motel.

Weta live in holes but there aren’t many holes in trees, so the dig under stones or chew through rotten logs to make their homes.

Once a weta motel is built, they will crawl in and relax.