The doors to our Whitianga and Paeroa offices will be closed for the summer break from 4pm on Friday, 20 December, while our Taupō and Hamilton offices will close for the summer break at 1pm on Tuesday, 24 December. All offices will reopen on Monday, 6 January 2025. To report air or water pollution, unsafe water activities in or on a river, lake or harbour, or make a general enquiry or information request during this time, call us 24/7 on 0800 800 401.

Close alert
  1. Ā mātou mahi I What we're doing »
  2. Tamariki greening Tūrangi
Image of a lady holding a kiwi and someone standing next to her

Ariana Fiaola says her role provides a great opportunity to meet people involved in other environmental initiatives and learn from them.

Tamariki are greening Tūrangi.

Kids Greening Taupō, which was started in 2015 to connect young people to nature, recently set up its kairuruku (coordinator) reo Māori role in the small town on the North Island Volcanic Plateau, with help from $40,000 from Waikato Regional Council’s Environmental Initiatives Fund.

Lead education coordinator Rachel Thompson says basing the kairuruku reo Māori role in Tūrangi means the programme is able to extend its overall reach.

“This funding has allowed us to expand our programme to kura kaupapa and kōhanga reo in Tūrangi for the first time,” says Rachel, who enjoys educating New Zealand’s future conservation leaders and helping to improve her local environment.

Kids Greening Taupō (KGT), an offshoot from the community organisation Greening Taupō, was started as a pilot project launched by the Department of Conservation and Project Tongariro, in partnership with Waikato Regional Council, Taupō District Council, local schools, and iwi.

Rachel says KGT has three education coordinators (including the te reo Maōri role) that work alongside Greening Taupō, Project Tongariro, Predator Free Taupō and an extracurricular student leadership

team to run events for schools/kura kaupapa Māori and early childhood centres/kohanga reo to attend.

The kairuruku reo Māori role was created in 2021 so that KGT could engage authentically with kura kaupapa and kōhanga reo by having a coordinator who could kōrero Māori.

Image of a girl standing in a field holding a bucket

Kids Greening Taupō has extended its reach to Tūrangi by basing a kairuruku reo Māori role there.

“We engage the younger tamariki in nature play in a variety of ways, including bug hunts, bush walks, and scavenger hunts,” says Rachel.

“The older children are encouraged to take on their own restoration and predator control projects –all local schools have native restoration sites that they plant, maintain and use for learning.”

Activities can include setting tracking tunnels and traplines, propagating native seeds, weeding and mulching planted areas, planning and planting for specific habitats, identifying plants used for rongoā Māori practices and introducing biological controls to manage pest plants.

“The list is endless, really,” says Rachel.

“We’re reaching the staff and students of more 40 schools, kura kaupapa, kōhanga reo and childhood centres.”

“We usually have 100-150 volunteers at our planting events but have had up to 2000 volunteers on one day!”

As KGT’s new kairuruku reo Māori, Ariana Fiaola started reaching out to new kura and kōhanga reo in Tūrangi in February this year.

Part of her role will include creating Māori language resources that will be made available to all whānau, kura and kōhanga throughout Aotearoa.

Ariana says she really loves the hands-on learning that her role provides, “ditching the textbooks to explore fun, creative and engaging ways for tamariki and rangatahi to learn and connect with te taiao”.

“It’s also a great opportunity to meet people involved in other environmental initiatives and learn from them.”

Kids Greening Taupō have a webpage, and are also on Facebook and Instagram!