"to care for the environment"

The twelfth part of the John Wesley Manifesto says ‘to care for the environment’. 

Last week, Year 9 students learnt about ‘threats to the Hauraki gulf’ via a virtual reality experience delivered by Blake Trust.

Students took a virtual trip to different places around the Hauraki Gulf looking at impacts of human activities on biodiversity. 

Thomas, one of the presenters and a marine biologist showed us the sea bed in various places and a common theme among all of them was the huge numbers of kina all over the rocks at each location. As a result of this, the seabed, even at places far from the mainland are stripped of vegetation and virtually no other species were seen. The large number of kina are due to over fishing of snapper, who in turn feed on the kina. Without snapper to keep kina numbers in check, populations of kina have spiralled out of control. Students could easily see the impact we are having on our beautiful environment. 

We thank the Blake Trust for helping us see the impact of our ways and hope we can bring about action to reverse the damage done.

Mr Chris Wood
Deputy Principal