Arbor Day 2016
Friday 3rd June 2016
WMS celebrated Arbor Day with each community planting Kowhai seeds.
This year, our Enviro focus has been on the Kowhai tree and our links to the Kowhai Sanctuary.
Kowhai
Sanctuary is located off Thompsons Rd, which is off Old West Coast Rd, just
past Halkett.
The seeds have been snipped at the ends, to allow growth. Each community received potting mix, small pots and seeds.
The teachers then spent time talking about the Kowhai tree and being safe when handling potting mix.
In term 4 there will be a school-wide competition to see which learning community has been the most successful with the growing of their seeds. Once the trees are established we will be placing them in the Kowhai Sanctuary.
As part of the Kids Discovery Plantout, students have had monitoring sessions to determine if their restoration project has been successful:
- by increasing biodiversity
- by improving water quality
- by having students engage and learn with the site
- To use Naturewatch's experts to help identify unknown flora and fauna.
This project aims to provide schools with an opportunity to learn about native biodiversity through hands-on experience in adopting a long term relationship with a restoration site.
This Kids Discovery Plantout is a collaborative project between West Melton Enviroschool, Te Ara Kākāriki (TAK), Enviroschools Canterbury, ECAN Ranger Greg Stanely and Lincoln University in Selwyn District.
