Term 3 Education update

Kia Ora Koutou,
It is with sadness that we announce that Puffin, one of our ambassador takahē, has passed away. Puffin was 21 years old, well over the lifespan of a wild takahē, and had delighted over half a million visitors during her time at ZEALANDIA. Puffin was popular with visitors, members, staff and volunteers alike.

We will be keeping a close eye on T2, but he’s generally ok by himself. He has also visited the vet recently, so we will need to keep an eye on him. We are talking to the folk at Takahē Recovery Programme and Ngāi Tahu to explore options that ensure this incredible species can be encountered at the sanctuary into the future. We will continue to run takahē studies here at ZEALANDIA.

As we start term three the ZEALANDIA Education team are excited to inform you of a few things we think you might be interested in. All of these things are available for your students to be involved with through the Wellington region so please get in contact with us.

Nga Mihi,
ZEALANDIA Education Team

ZEALANDIA Youth ambassadors spend weekend away training, do you have someone who could be an ambassador?

The six ZEALANDIA Youth Ambassadors spent the first weekend of the holidays in Taranaki learning from a variety of educators and other young rangatahi. Places like Rotokare and the Tawhiti Museum provided a wealth of experiences and skills that we hope the ambassadors will take on and use in their journey. Training weekends like this are part of the training that ambassadors receive and are provided free of charge. ZEALANDIA will also be starting a Senior Ambassador programme for Y11,12 and 13 starting in January 2018, and looking for new youth ambassadors early next year.

Environmental Education for Sustainability launch

On Thursday 27^th July we were delighted to host DOC, the Associate Minister for Conservation Nicky Wagner, and Hon Dr Nick Smith for the launch of the Environmental Education Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan. The plan sets out priority focus areas and how government agencies will continue to collaborate to support delivery of high quality environmental education for sustainability throughout New Zealand. Our ZEALANDIA Youth Ambassadors took part in the event and had a chance to talk to assembled politicians and Wellington-based environmental educators about their role in engaging young people in conservation action. Take a look at the document here.

Get involved in secondary students Volunteer Sundays at ZEALANDIA

If you know any young senior students who would like to help at ZEALANDIA on a Sunday, please please put them in touch with us or forward their contact details to education@visitzealandia.com. This programme will be run every first Sunday of the month and gives a chance for young leaders to get involved in helping in the valley in a practical way. We ran the first day in July with a great group of students who are committed to helping their community.