Aotea College Tree Planting 2019
On Wednesday, 14 August 2019 we had another amazing Aotea College experience but this one did not involve books, sports or form of art, on that day we planted trees! Registrations for our tree planting day opened a couple weeks before and an astounding 93 students registered to volunteer, we were also joined by Conservation dogs, Conservation Volunteers and of course our ‘always keen to participate’ teachers.
At 1pm we marched down to the front of our school with cheerful chattering, music playing in the background and a barbecue ready for a sausage sizzle. Chief Seattle once said that: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” On the 14th of August we helped prepare the earth for visitors that are yet to come by having Tree Planting Day. We are visitors in an infinite cycle and we all have to do our part to protect the earth we live on, the place we call our home. We the Papa Taiao from Aotea College were joined by a marvellous group of Aotea College volunteers, Teachers and Conservation volunteers to plant trees.
The Papa Taiao Wānanga group starting their year with a snorkel in Porirua Harbour with Mountains to Sea Wellington.
When we started our journey, we ventured down to Porirua and we began to dig deep into what it means to preserve, protect and care for this extraordinary place we call earth. When the earth gets kissed by rain the ground of bare hills and higher ground washes into our oceans and our beautiful Porirua harbour gets polluted. We planted trees not only to help fight against erosion, pollution, and other negative impacts on the environment, but to bring back Aotearoa’s native fauna and fauna. By planting trees, the natural environment around our school can start to flourish and attract species that are native to New Zealand like the Giant Weta. When we went over to Mana island we saw what New Zealand could look like if it was pest free but we also got a glimpse of what happens when communities come together to plant trees.
Hanschen holding a gecko during the second wānanga at Mana Island
On the 14th of August we came together not only as a community but as a whanau and we planted, staked and tied nearly 400 native trees in a mere couple of hours. We want to challenge everyone to be a part of the action against climate change and against pollution, but we also want everyone to be a part of planting life, protecting life and living life in harmony with our environment.
Trees also have cultural significance and the forests we see standing strong and standing tall have shared their knowledge and wisdom with us much like our ancestors share knowledge and wisdom. Aotea College volunteers, teachers and Conservation Volunteers shared their knowledge, wisdom and stories with the people of the future, we challenge other schools and organisations to plant trees, share their mātauranga and travel through time. Planting trees at Aotea College has been an amazing experience and it would be wrong not to share our adventure.
This summary was written by Hanschen Vetter a year 14 student, one of the five Papa Taiao Wānanga students at Aotea College
