The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Whangārei Heads class plants kauri as part of dieback lessons

Northern Advocate
30 Jul, 2018 09:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Zara Wakelin backfills the young kauri while Quinn Jessen and Adam Langdon hold it steady. Photo/John Stone

Zara Wakelin backfills the young kauri while Quinn Jessen and Adam Langdon hold it steady. Photo/John Stone

Some minders of tomorrow's great forests have planted a young kauri tree as part of their promise to the future.

Youngsters from Whangārei Heads School's Room 2 planted the tree on Friday at the end of their kauri dieback disease study programme.

They were joined by partners from the kauri dieback conservation hotspot, the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), its Biosecurity NZ branch and Northland Regional Council (NRC).

NRC environmental services group manager Bruce Howse said he was impressed with the school's programme.

Zara Wakelin backfills the young kauri while Quinn Jessen and Adam Langdon hold it steady. Photo/John Stone
Zara Wakelin backfills the young kauri while Quinn Jessen and Adam Langdon hold it steady. Photo/John Stone
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said there were positives among the bad news, such as prevention measures people could take and some advances on the science front.

The latter included looking into whether some trees were more susceptible than others.

Before the planting, the Room 2 children and teacher Dane Higgison talked about the work they had done.

The pupils spoke about the various technology, scientific, art-based, promotional and hands-on projects they had created.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The bright ideas included sensor-activated gates which wouldn't open if spores were detected, a one-time only footwear spray that would kill spores forever, a ''kid safe and kid friendly'' website about the disease, a pitch to get on morning television to talk about the topic and - possibly the most popular - a computer game where the disease is eliminated when the spores (like alien invaders) are blasted to smithereens.

One of more than 70 schools who recently took part in a virtual field trip exploring dieback disease, Whangarei Heads was selected to receive a young kauri.

Run by MPI and LEARNZ, the virtual field trip was designed to continue strengthening community relationships and increase awareness with young biosecurity ambassadors of the future about the need to protect the iconic trees.

Kim Brown, Northern Operations manager for MPI helps with the planting. Photo/John Stone
Kim Brown, Northern Operations manager for MPI helps with the planting. Photo/John Stone

It also explored Māori cultural connections, science and research, and behaviour change for managing the spread of kauri dieback.

"This is really authentic learning, as we can see what impact this devastation can have on our local environment, including on our very own Mount Manaia," acting principal Denise Humphries said.

The strong kauri sapling was planted in bushland in the school grounds in a position where it could be seen but not walked on. The site also had Mt Manaia as a backdrop.

''We chose the site so when people see the tree they also see the maunga, Manaia, behind it, overlooking it,'' said Adam Willetts, Bream Head Conservation Trust ranger.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

Dog helps find rare bird colony 'not seen for decades'

10 Jul 05:00 PM
The Country

'A cracker': Fieldays 2025 sees record turnout

10 Jul 04:59 PM
The Country

NZ shearers take the UK by storm on tour

10 Jul 03:27 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Dog helps find rare bird colony 'not seen for decades'

Dog helps find rare bird colony 'not seen for decades'

10 Jul 05:00 PM

Tui the golden retriever 'real key tool' in finding new population of whio.

'A cracker': Fieldays 2025 sees record turnout

'A cracker': Fieldays 2025 sees record turnout

10 Jul 04:59 PM
NZ shearers take the UK by storm on tour

NZ shearers take the UK by storm on tour

10 Jul 03:27 AM
Tasman farm 'looks more like a riverbed' after flooding

Tasman farm 'looks more like a riverbed' after flooding

10 Jul 03:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP