Rotokare sanctuary’s new ‘bush classroom’ takes shape

School trips to Rotokare Scenic Reserve are about to become a lot more exciting when a new “bush classroom” of boardwalks and huts opens later this year.

The way in to this classroom will be up steps to a platform in the bush, past a carved entrance arch, up curving steps and along boardwalks to a series of “huts”.

Rotokare is a 230-hectare bush reserve inside a predator-proof fence near Eltham, in South Taranaki, where kiwi, hihi, North Island robins and a host of other native birds are thriving.

Sanctuary manager Sophie Tucker said the idea of the bush classroom was to get students out of physical classrooms to experience the environment.

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There was an existing “bush classroom” consisting of tables in the bush, but this new improved version was much more exciting.

The project was started by former sanctuary manager Simon Collins with sponsorship from Beach Energy and Betts and Bishop Landscaping and Construction.

After Collins’ sudden death in March 2021, the unfinished project went on the back burner.

But with working bees held last weekend and on Friday, it was hoped the construction work would be complete, Tucker said.

The entire project would cost about $50,000 in materials including the interactive displays, with likely a similar amount given in donated labour.

She is hopeful the “classroom” will be ready for students by term 2, but there’s still plenty of work ahead.

A series of carvings being created by Ngāti Tupaia will include the entrance to the classroom and a carved ruru (morepork) to sit beside each station.

Each of the board-and-batten-clad stations will have interactive displays and interpretive signs for students of varying ages.

The first is a cultural station where students will learn about plants used in Māori medicine (rongoa), some of which will be planted around the shelter by trust volunteer Audrey Thompson.

Another station will be all about birds, another will have lizards and a fourth will be about invertebrates with a grand “weta hotel” to be built beside it.

Sophie Herlihy, Rotokare’s environmental educator, said the displays would include activities that students could take home and try in their own backyards.

“Things like how to make a lizard lounge to encourage backyard diversity,” she said.

Students will become “eco detectives”, learning about predators and how they are tracked and trapped, helping count birds and learning to identify the various species in the sanctuary, she said.

About a dozen volunteers and builders were hard at work on Friday adding handrails to the boardwalks, clearing weeds from around the entrance and other tasks.

Fuelled by a hearty barbecue lunch and a good dose of camaraderie, they were rushing to beat the incoming rain.

“You certainly can’t say they don’t feed us well,” volunteer Glenn Hansen said, tucking into a burger.

Another was Zoe Pitcher, 17, who had been volunteering for two years after starting as part of working towards Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

“Every week it’s so different, I’m still learning something each time.”

Longtime volunteers Bill Hodges and Alan Rogers were driving brooms and shovels in the clean-up.

Both had been part of the team “right from the start” of the reserve in 2004.

“Love the good people, the bush and the birds,” they said.