Marlborough Primary School on Auckland’s North Shore has a vision of providing students with challenging learning opportunities and to encourage students toward independence and life long learning. 

Teacher Kevin Sutherland felt that the students would benefit from a cultural and nature trip and arranged for 130 Year 5-6 students to visit CUE Haven and have an overnight stay at our local Te Aroha Pa marae just over a km from CUE Haven. 

Four groups of students and accompanying adults visited CUE Haven over two days November 21 and 23 – two groups came on each day. At CUE Haven, the students learned about native plants and birds as they explored the native bush.  They also learned about introduced predators and the threat they present to native NZ plant and birds. These sessions were presented by the team from The Forest Bridge Trust (TFBT). www.theforestbridgetrust.org.nz

The Forest Bridge Trust’s vision is to create a connected landscape with healthy forest and flourishing indigenous wildlife from the Kaipara Harbour to the Pacific Coast, and CUE Haven lies within this landscape.

Thomas and Mahrukh were on site on November 23, and Mahrukh gave each group a welcome and a brief introduction to CUE Haven and talked about the benefits of planting trees and being in nature.

The students went for a walk in the CUE Haven bush.  Teacher Kevin gave a safety briefing and explanation of what they would see on the walk.

Thomas accompanied the groups and he and Kevin explained different things found along the track.  The students saw many birds, wetas and even a rat caught in one of the traps!!

The groups walked all the way to the top of the property and had a break and a snack at Te Rite o Taranaki.  On the way to the top the students also got a look at the device that TFBT has installed at CUE Haven to detect nearby kiwi calls and movements.   Although there are currently no kiwi detected at CUE Haven, it will only be a matter of time before they find their way to the CUE Haven reserve. 

Tris Bondsfield, Senior Community Liaison of TFBT gave a presentation on pest control.  Tris started her talk by explaining the impact deforestation and introduced pests had on New Zealand’s native plants and animals and explained TFBT’s vision and the work being done to create a corridor of thriving native forest.

Tris had brought along some specimens of the pests (rats, weasels, stoats, ferrets) for the students to see.

As well as a kiwi which have been endangered by these predators.

Tris introduced the students to the predators.

Tris then explained the different types of traps that are used to control the predators.

The students got a demonstration of how the traps work and got to try them out!

To give the students a better idea of the predator control issue, Tris then led them in a game. The students were split into three groups—kiwis, predators and burrows.  At Tris’s signal the kiwi were instructed to flee to their burrows while the predators pursued them.  After a couple of turns, the kiwi population was significantly reduced and the students were able to see how much of an impact few predators can have.

Treats (chocolates, books), were then introduced into the activity and the predators could select a yummy treat instead of a kiwi. As several predators selected the treats, more kiwi survived. When there were no treats the kiwi numbers dwindled again as the predators continued to catch them.

TFBT CEO, Ana Christmas, joined Tris for the sessions and gave a helping hand by recording the statistics. These were displayed on a graph so the students could see the impact of predators and learn about the significance of pest control.

Tris explained that the yummy treats represented pest traps and how pest control was not a one-time activity. Pest control had to be ongoing.   When there were no treats (no pest control), kiwi numbers dwindled. With the introduction of pest control (the treats), a lot more kiwi survived, but then kiwi numbers dwindled again when pest control ceased.

The game was a great way to reinforce the message about the importance of ongoing pest control to protect our native trees and wildlife.

At the end of the sessions, the students went back to Te Aroha Pa marae to continue their wonderful cultural experience.

We really enjoyed having the students out to CUE Haven and want to thank Kevin for organising the visit, and all of the teachers and parents who helped out.  And a big thank you to Tris, Ana and The Forest Bridge Trust for their very valuable presentation.

We look forward to future visits from Marlborough School and also having The Forest Bridge Trust continue to participate in educational activities at CUE Haven.