Teacher Andrew Doyle says the school has worked alongside Te Arawa Lakes Trust to be part of the netting and removal of catfish from Lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, a partnership that started in 2019.
He says pupils go out once or twice a week to empty the nets.
Pupils also go out once a week to help Tatau Pounamu empty traps of rats and mice on Mokoia Island, and to help record the data.
Lynmore Primary School has trapping lines in the native bush attached to the school, which they empty, and Doyle says there has definitely been an increase in birds in the bush since starting this initiative.
They have trap lines in the Whakarewarewa Forest which pupils empty too, and the school built 100 traps for people in the community, he says.
He says it was a fantastic feeling to receive the award.
"It was great for the children's work and the positive impact they are having in the local community to be recognised.
"The kids were super excited and are keen to carry on with their biosecurity work."
Conservation work is done by pupils across the school, and the trapping outside of school is done by senior Year 5 and 6 pupils.
Doyle says pupils can choose whether they want to get involved in the trapping and catfish removal, and hundreds of children over the years have taken up the opportunity.
He says it is so important to get children involved in this type of conservation work because taonga species need to be looked after.
"They, through no fault of their own, are in limited numbers. Without our help, these numbers wouldn't go up, which would only lead to extinction.
He says for children to have the opportunity to do this work on their local lakes and lands is fantastic.
Pupil Cooper Ellwood, 10, says he felt really happy that the school had received the award for all the hard work it had put in.
Doyle says it is important for kids to learn about biosecurity and conservation as they can then teach their own kids to help the environment and have fun doing it.
Matthew Wallace, 10, said he had been excited to hear about the award win and that it would help them to get more traps.
Reuben Barter, 9, says doing this type of work now can help the next generation to have more native fish and birds.
All three boys agreed that one of the highlights for them was doing the catfish removal.
Reasons included getting to experience picking up the slimy fish, getting to teach other kids new to it how to pull in the nets, and seeing the numbers of catfish being caught.
They thanked Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Tatau Pounamu for helping them to have these conservation experiences.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana was a finalist in the Māori Award for the Ruawāhia/Mount Tarawera Wilding Pine Control Project, and its marine biosecurity team was the winner of the Eagle Technology Local and Central Government Award.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council was a finalist in the Mondiale VGL Innovation Award for GeoPest, while its Scion project was a finalist in the Bioprotection Aotearoa Science Award for its innovation and communication in forest biosecurity.
The awards were originally supposed to be held at the Beehive in Wellington in February, but due to Covid they were postponed and moved online.
The New Zealand Biosecurity Awards celebrate people and organisations across the country which are contributing to New Zealand's biosecurity – in communities, businesses, schools, iwi and Māori organisations, universities, councils and government agencies.
The awards recognise the individuals and teams which are working hard to help ensure New Zealand and its unique environment are safe from pests and diseases through their science, research, and innovative contributions to biosecurity.
