Colour blue for water

Forest and Bird, Issue 279, 1 February 1996, Page 4

Colour blue for water

STUDENTS IN Waitakere, New Zealand’s first self-styled "ecocity’, have been learning how to appreciate the city’s environment and its dependence on the natural water cycle through a specially designed colouring-in poster and teacher’s resource. The "Nature’s Water Cycle" poster competition attracted 18,000 entries from 69 primary, intermediate and secondary schools in the area. "The aim of the poster competition and the accompanying teachers’ resource kit has been to draw attention to nature’s water cycle and the need to protect native plants and animals in the region," said Waitakere mayor Bob Harvey. "Much of the flora and fauna of the Waitakere Ranges is A

featured in the poster". The resource kit and colour-ing-in poster were developed with the assistance of local science teachers. The teaching materials and visual aids draw attention to the bush-clad Waitakeres, the natural process of rain, water runoff, flow and evaporation, and endangered or declining species of native flora and fauna in the city area. Winning posters in the competition have been reproduced as gift cards and are being sold to raise funds for planting trees and other environmental projects with schools. The city council’s Water Cycle Strategy is a community-based programme to conserve, reuse and recycle water. It is intended to bring greater awareness and understanding of the importance of water conservation.