for restoring native bush back into their school gully.
Hukanui Primary School, in Hamilton has won the Wheke Award in the The 2005 YHA Young Conservationist Awards. The Awards are sponsored by YHA New Zealand in partnership with the Department of Conservation. The Wheke Award recognises environmental acheivement by a group of Primary/Intermediate students.
The judges commented that the initiative of the students in taking responsibility for all stages of this project from its conception is an excellent example of environmental education in action. Hukanui School wins $1,000 as part of the award which will be used to further their gully project.
After an in-depth environmental study, Hukanui Year 5/6 Primary Students formed a School Community Gully Group to help restore native bush in their Hamilton based school grounds. The students realised that Hamilton has only 1.6% remnant native bush left in the city area and have worked with Hamilton City Council and the University of Waikato on a project to increase this percentage.
During the process of improving their own school grounds they have been great advocates, educating not only fellow students and parents but the wider community on the importance of this vegetation and the native species who rely on such foliage.
The first stage of this project, covering 55 m2 has been completed with other stages to follow in the near future.
