June 2021 Recipients
With a commitment to environmental education, Wainui Beach School in Gisborne provides its students with knowledge and tools to help develop their understanding of how the outdoors can influence plants and animals, specifically the Little Blue Penguin.
Ruud Kleinpaste – the Bugman and Dr Riley Elliott – Shark Scientist visited the school to talk to students and teachers about how they can learn from nature and the important role that living organisms play in our ecosystem and their impact on our environment.
Wainui Beach School was the first ever TREEmendous recipient in 2008, planting many different species of native trees for an outdoor classroom. The school is continuing to further their environmental goals this year with the programme by developing, The Penguin Project – Little Blues, an initiative first started in 2018 when Wainui Beach residents discovered Little Blue Penguins nesting under their houses.
The Penguin Project aims to further the students understanding around how they share the environment with other species. The goal is also to increase their knowledge on how the Little Blue Penguin is suited to its habitat and their response to environmental changes.
