Our places: Akaroa Area School – Te Umu Te Rehua Reserve
Image: Jayson Crew
Fig. 1: Akaroa Area School students are now kaitiaki of Te Umu Te Rahua (Image: Akaroa Area School)
Fig.2: Volunteers planting. (Image: Jayson Crew)
Video 1: Students at Akaroa Area School outline the steps they took to help combat climate change.
How this helps mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change
- Native plants sequester more carbon dioxide (drawdown) than pasture grass
- Restoring biodiversity also restores the co-benefits of life-supporting ecosystem services:
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- Reduces soil erosion (Fig. 3). This is particularly important as weather is predicted to intensify and sea levels are rising. Less erosion means less sediment washed into the ocean. Too much sediment would otherwise smother and kill coastal and marine ecosystems including salt marshes and seaweed (both of which absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide).
- Increases habitats for endemic taonga species including insects and birds that pollinate plants and helps the soil absorb carbon dioxide.
- Provides a new source of seeds and a nodal point from which native plants can spread along the coast
- Raises public awareness of climate change and the role of healthy biodiversity
- Demonstrates how everyone can work together to restore and protect our amazing places
- Healthy ecosystems are sources of mahinga kai, helping us become more resilient as the climate changes
Fig. 3: The headland is subject to intense erosion. It has such variable aspects and terrain that the types of plants varied across very short distances (Image: Akaroa Area School)
Key actions
- Consultation with and agreement from landowner
- Sought advice from local trust
- Sought advice and funding from council
- Created and/or sourced and adapted restoration and management plans:
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- Health and Safety
- Planting
- Predator control (to come later as needs and budget determines)
- Involved the community: local newspapers, social media, word of mouth
- Attracted volunteers: students, parents, teachers, community (Fig. 7)
- Eco-sourced native plants
- Sourced funding for stock-proof fencing (Fig. 3)
- Sourced long term local business sponsor to maintain project
- Created (video) diary of project (Video 1)
- Ensured succession planning (younger students at school)
Fig. 4: Teacher and students accepting the 2020 Aoraki Conservation Award.
Fig. 5: Location map. (Image: Hugh Wilson)
Fig. 6: Planting plan was carefully designed to accommodate for the highly varied topography and aspect. (Image: Hugh Wilson)
