BACKYear 11 students, Olivia Li and Milo Sandlar, are Youth leaders for Te Hōnonga a Iwi Restoring Rosedale Park. Hear from these students who are a part of the group overseeing one of the restoration projects, the Seed Whakapapa project.
“The seedling project is officially called the Seed Whakapapa Project at Te Hōnonga a iwi. This project was introduced by local board, council, and park ranger, Anna Baine who developed a cultural and specific study day that Te Hono was fortunate to be a part of last year. Our seed whakapapa project will help contribute to our native New Zealand ecosystem, improve our environment, and connect Aotearoa socially. Our seed whakapapa project will help contribute to our native New Zealand ecosystem and help improve our environment due to climate change. The world is constantly changing and we need to grow plants that we know will survive our climate. This is why I collect Manuka seedlings at Rosedale Park and I am currently raising Manuka in my backyard.”
Olivia Li
“It is an opportunity for the younger generations of Year 2 Kristin students to work together with older adults from the Settlers Village and is facilitated by Nicki, with Olivia and myself helping as student leaders. We help collect seeds and grow the seeds in different stages of their development. We try to use seeds sourced from the site or places with similar ecological conditions in order to get strong, adapted, and resilient plants. Throughout last year I also worked to do weeding on the site, cutting back palm grass around every 3-4 weeks, and destroying the seeds in a special organic seed destroyer, which suffocates them using water. I really enjoy being part of this project, and the time spent contributing to a healthy native environment in the future is so exciting.”
Milo Sandlar
Olivia and Milo are joined by other Rangitoto College students from all year levels to work towards restoring the park. We are incredibly proud of the dedication and commitment of these young people.
