Tane's Ark Photostories

 

The digger had moved in and was clearing the weeds when Claire Garrett spotted some eels in the mud. She wondered whether there were more and so called us in to help save any others that were hiding in the mud.

Hey you guys! Me again, still keeping you up dated with what's been happening at Tane's Ark

Well me again, keeping you updated with what's been happening at Tane's Ark
There's been quite a lot happening since I Iast posted.

We've started a new term in New Zealand and we are already getting straight in to it. As well as carrying on  planting the smaller  specimen trees one of the planting  groups was given the task to go to the native plants nursery and buy some bigger trees for us to plant. Plants that will blend  in and attract  wild life  and will also help shelter the smaller trees  and  give them a  head start to grow.  

Now we have planted half of them and have still more to plant.  It was a little difficult because the rain from a few days before had made the ground muddy and slippery which made a bit hard for us to stay on our feet when we were digging - but we managed it.

As you can see from the photos, we have finished our sign which looks fantastic.  Until we have decided on a spot where it can be put up and seen by people coming to Aranui Park, the sign will be stored in the Mapua School admin lobby  so everybody can see it. 


So  as  you can see  there has been a lot hard work and effort  put into  Tane's Ark   and still more to come but we are starting to see the impact and help that  it has been to the wetland and the wild life.  So all we need to do now is to keep looking at the big picture and keep working the way we are. 
And just  keep having fun!.

Here are some photos to let you see the improvements and the newly created sign.

Tane's ark - keeping you up-to-date with what's been happening

We have been making a lot of progress throughout Term 3 and we have planted many plants.  We have even  had  more students from Mapua School involved.  Every second Friday different  Houses came over to Tane's Ark with their buddies. They have been helping plant,  weed, and put covers around the plants. It has helped a lot and it  has been a great opportunity for the buddies to help each other and to spend time together.

We have plans to build a bridge over to Tane's Ark.  This will help  a lot because it has been raining a lot  throughout the winter and it has been  making it hard to get over there. All the rain has meant new streams have formed and Tane's Ark has become an island.

So as you can see  there has been a lot hard work and effort  put into  Tane's Ark  but we all know that it is worth it and  we just need to keep looking at the big picture and keep working the way we are.
And just  keep having fun!

By Ellie

First plantings

Students out there working hard

Eighteen students from Mapua School have been working really hard to help restore the swamp forest in Tane's Ark. They have been doing everything from planting trees to saving eels from old ditches.  It's all about helping the environment and learning new things that they wouldn't learn anywhere else.
This photo shows some of the hard workers planting and eeling.

Check out our photo boards of our progress as we upload them to this website.

Why Tane's Ark?

The name Tane's Ark tells some of the story of our new project. The name comes from Tane, the Maori god of the forest. The ark part of the name was chosen because it reminds us of the Bible story of how Noah built an ark to save all the animals from the coming flood.
Our logo also tells the story of what we are trying to do in the Tane's Ark area which is to plant more trees and hopefully even save animals like eels and attract more native birds. We are trying to turn our project into a swamp forest so that birds, fish and eels will live there in a nice welcoming habitat for them.

In the past we have helped restore a Wetlands habitat and that took us more than a year to finish so this year we have a challenge to get Tane's Ark looking wonderful again. Before the diggers came in to clear the site for us, Tane's Ark was a dump. Just big lumps of grass, blackberry and willows everywhere but now we have started planting some carex grasses, flax, manuka, kanuka, kowhai and cabbage trees.  So far we have planted around a thousand plants. To be honest I think we have done a wonderful job so far. What about you?