Native Plants Taking Root
in West Auckland Schools
Many of us will remember planting our first native tree – a foot pressed onto the spade to break the ground, placing the sapling gently in the newly turned earth, pressing the soil in firmly and mulching. For a lot of West Auckland kids, that memory will stem from their own school grounds.
Community Waitākere runs a native plant nursery and this year, inspired by Auckland Council's Plant More Natives campaign, the Environment team saw an opportunity sitting right in front of them.
“Schools rarely have budget set aside for plants,” explains Zephyr Melchior-Edgecombe, Environmental Programmes Coordinator with Community Waitākere. “But they have space, and they have tamariki ready to learn and get their hands dirty.”
In June, Community Waitākere offered free native plants to schools it works with through its Nature Connection Schools project. "Nine schools took us up on it, and between them they've planted nearly 650 natives - infill planting, gap-filling between older trees, clearing weeds to give new plants room," says Bronwyn Smith, Community Environmental Educator with Community Waitākere. "It's been great to watch tamariki get their hands in the soil and learn about what they're planting, some of them for the first time."
At Western Heights, the plants went into the school's outdoor classroom, an area of bush the whole school already loved and used. Each class has been coming through to choose two trees, plant them, learn about them, and the trees haven't gone unnoticed since.
"The children have been very careful not to damage the trees when playing and they check on their class trees often," says Nicole Spanhake, the Outdoor Classroom teacher at Western Heights School.
Down the road, Swanson Primary's Urban Forest group led planting in their own outdoor classroom area. At Konini Primary, planting stretched across the school: Year 5 and 6 tamariki planted natives where professionals had cleared invasive weeds, while Year 2s focused on the stream edges, planting to stabilise the banks and reduce erosion. Going forward, the school will monitor stream health using the WaiCare citizen science kit with support from Community Waitākere.
What's growing in these school grounds now is a small stretch of native flora that tamariki have chosen, planted, and are still checking on - one they'll remember well beyond their years at school.
