School students save world’s rarest kiwi

A ground-breaking new youth leadership programme is bringing our national icon – the kiwi – up close and personal to 19 senior South Island secondary school students.

The year 11, 12 and 13 students took part in ‘Kiwi Forever’, a week-long total immersion bi-cultural conservation programme at Okarito kiwi zone, just north of Franz Josef on the West Coast. Starting Saturday 28th November, the course taught them what it takes to save the rowi; the world’s rarest kiwi species.

The programme – a partnership between Untouched World Charitable Trust, Ngai Tahu, BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust and the Department of Conservation (DOC) – recognises the urgent need to impart knowledge about saving kiwi to today’s youth if the bird is to be part of the nation’s future.

Dr Barry Law, education advisor to Untouched World Charitable Trust says the Kiwi Forever programme at Okarito is an example of student-centred experiential learning in action.

“It is the students not the teachers who were coming up with the answers during the week as we looked at the need to preserve our endangered national bird.

“Leadership development for young adults is about igniting passion; student-centred experiential learning does that. It is a powerful process that challenges thinking and encourages action for life-long change.”

The students’ physical experiences included long, muddy treks through thick vegetation, as they worked with a variety of DOC staff and Ngai Tahu to understand bush navigation and kiwi monitoring techniques.

The 19 students are from Greymouth High school, Westland High School, Karamea Area school, Reefton Area School, John Paul ll High School, South Westland High School, Marion College, Linwood High School, Christchurch Rudolph Steiner School, Kaikoura High School and Otago Girls High School are from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds and selected on their ability to ‘engage passionately with life,’ says Dr Law.

The students’ physical experiences included long, muddy treks through thick vegetation, as they worked with a variety of DOC staff and Ngai Tahu to understand bush navigation and kiwi monitoring techniques.

They also discovered just how big the threat from introduced predators, such as stoats, can be for native species and explored ways in which we can fight back to protect them.

The intellectual challenge included exploring how human behaviour impacts on the Okarito ecosystems and also how the iconic ‘kiwi’ brand has been used to describe us as a nation.

Executive director for BNZ Save the Kiwi Trust, Michelle Impey says ensuring we have kiwi forever means taking action today and investing in future generations.

“The Okarito youth leadership programme is not only a terrific joint initiative, it is vital; giving youth a sense of empowerment and the understanding that what they can do for kiwi will make a difference to the bird’s future survival.

“The students will now take their knowledge back to their peers and their communities. We hope that the ripple effects of their experiences spread far and wide.”

A number of DOC front line staff have been involved in the programme, showing students how rowi are being brought back from the brink of extinction through pest control, breeding and monitoring techniques. It’s an association that they welcome.

“This programme enables students to learn beyond the school gates so they gain key skills and become advocates for conservation,” says James Livingstone, DOC Rowi programme manager.

“It’s every kiwi’s job to save our national bird. The more we can do to encourage a sense of collective responsibility, the safer our kiwi will be.”