A bright new sign now welcomes people to the start of the nature trail in Centennial Park, Mairangi Bay.
Funded by Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, the sign was created by Mairangi Bay School students through the Love Our Bays project, which encourages people to care for urban streams.
Anna Cooper, a parent and art teacher, worked with teacher Siobhan Cooper and the school’s Wai Care stream team to help create the artwork on the sign.
The idea for the sign came about when water quality monitoring revealed the effect some activities were having on the stream.
“We noticed people walking their dogs and they were not on a leash,” says Mairangi Bay School student Ava Cooper.
“If dogs get into the stream they can destroy the habitat for native fish and other little animals that live there.”
Work to restore Centennial Park’s native forest is carried out by the Centennial Park Bush Society. Volunteers remove invasive weeds, grow native plants, trap animal pests and maintain tracks.
The group has also set up the Campbells Bay Urban Sanctuary, a community environmental scheme, with a strong focus on the area bound by Aberdeen, East Coast and Kōwhai roads and the beach. This area is an important link in the North-West Wildlink Project, which provides safe routes and refuges for native plants and animals.
Visit the Centennial Park Bush Society for more information.
