Enviroschools' Hui

By Hugo Barsby and Fergus Oberlin-Brown | Posted: Thursday March 23, 2023

On Wednesday, the 8th of March, four members of the OBHS Sustainability group, Harry Burrow, Finn Hibbert (leader), Hugo Barsby, and Fergus Oberlin-Brown as well as Ms Justice, visited the Orokonui Ecosanctuary for the annual Enviroschools' Hui.

We arrived at the ecosanctuary at 9:30am. Tahu Mackenzie gave everyone a warm welcome, acknowledging the amazing scenery and starting the day off by getting to know other students from various schools around Dunedin with some icebreaker activities.

Throughout the day we heard from some passionate speakers about their work in the community. In the morning we heard from Jack Brizal, who talked to us about his environmentally friendly cafe called ‘Yours’. Shortly after, Duncan Campbell shared his love for the outdoors by talking to us about his job as a biosecurity officer working in ecology and conservation.

After a delicious morning tea we went for a walk around the ecosanctuary with Taylor and Tahu, who showed us the diversity of wildlife in the ecosanctuary. We were lucky enough to spot kākā, tūī, bellbirds, some takahē, skinks and tuatara. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing Waimarie, a long finned eel, and learning about her life cycle and habitat.

After lunch we heard from another round of speakers. First was Hadi from Recycle A Device (RAD), who talked to us about his company that refurbishes old computers and gives them away to students in need. We then listened to some members of the DCC about the plan for Dunedin to be carbon neutral by 2030, who asked us for some feedback and ideas to make the city more sustainable.

Finally, we finished the day by talking to the other schools about how we could collaborate in future projects to better the environment. Overall it was a very productive and fun day. Thank you to the Enviroschools team for organising it and giving us the opportunity to come along.