Offering children opportunities to experience nature in fun and exciting ways is inspiring future generations to care for our environment, says Ailie Suzuki, General Manager Envirohub Marlborough.
“Studies have shown that if children between the ages of eight and 12 years learn to really care about the environment, they carry that throughout their life and we have seen this in young adults who have been through our programmes in the past 10 years,” says Ailie.
Envirohub Marlborough holds monthly Save our Species Conservation Kids NZ (CKNZ) events which give children and their families the chance to experience the outdoors and learn about Aotearoa’s unique wildlife.
“At each of our 12 events a ‘Species Superstar’ is chosen and presented with an Inspiration Pack aimed to encourage the child’s continued interest in preserving NZ’s unique environment. This year these packs, and some of the costs of the events, have been funded by a grant from Top of The South Community Foundation.
“We run a variety of educational events uniting families and encouraging them to become more involved in conservation. Events strive to be accessible to all, including families living rurally or somehow isolated, those with low socio-economic status and those with other barriers that may prevent attendance.”
So far this year’s events have included a Kotare- kingfisher day at Para Wetlands; Pekapeka bat evening at Pelorus Bridge; Sea Week day trip to Queen Charlotte Sounds and Lockmara; Giant Weta Day at Pollard Park; Tupoupau Hector’s Dolphin day at Queen Charlotte Sounds and Picton; Humpupeke Humpback Whale day; Karearea NZ Falcon Day and Tuna eel day.
The Conservation Kids programme is the youth arm of Envirohub Marlborough which aims to “unite, inspire and assist the Marlborough community to achieve their environmental goals”.
“We work in four core areas of Zero Waste, Marine Health, Sustainable Communities and Conservation Kids NZ. Our programmes support our vision of ‘A community focused on sustainability, working together to enhance and protect our Marlborough environment’,” says Ailie.
“We can't thank TotSCF enough for allowing us to do what we could this year with our new Save Our Species programme. Ngā mihi nui.”
Ailie Suzuki
General Manager
Envirohub Marlborough