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Town Belt Kaitiaki
Town Belt Kaitiaki (TBK) is a student-led education programme for Dunedin schools and ECE centres.
FROM Maureen Howard, TBK Senior Education Coordinator![]()
Sad times. Here’s some photos of 2024 and prior. We have so many amazing memories. ![]()
Thank you very much for appreciating Town Belt Kaitiaki and for caring about our precious Dunedin Town Belt. I've loved working with the students, teachers, organisations and community on caring for the biodiversity of the town belt - it has been a privilege and a joy.![]()
We have so many people to thank for everything this programme has achieved for young people and the Town Belt. Town Belt Kaitiaki is very grateful for the amazing support from our partner organisations. In particular - to Department of Conservation, Dunedin City Council and Dunedin Amenities Society who between them have helped us greatly with equipment, services, plants or funding. We are very grateful to City Sanctuary, Otago University, Otago Polytechnic, Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau, OAR FM, Otago Regional Council, Tane's Tree Trust and NZAEE for training and expertise this year. ![]()
I'm deeply grateful to our TBK Volunteers for supervising and sharing their expertise so well; to the Strategic Leadership Group Chair Taylor Davies-Colley and the Strategic Leadership Group representatives for leadership and guidance; to our treasured TBK schools, Early Childhood centres and our Link Teachers; to my predecessors Claudia Babirat and Georgina Golling for building and running the programme with skill, passion and dedication; and most of all to the Student Leadership Team for all their enthusiastic mahi and the Co-Chairs for their dedication and inspiring leadership. I know there are many other wonderful individuals and organisations who have helped us this and previous years - please consider yourself included! Thank you!
Town Belt Kaitiaki has been a huge success, and has brought together students, schools and communities since it was first formed in 2017. The Student Leadership Team has been a huge part of this achievement and is a group of passionate and talented young people from many Dunedin schools. Sadly, due to an uncertain economic climate, TBK has not been able to secure the funds needed to continue to deliver our program in a sustainable way.![]()
While the Student Leadership Team will no longer be holding monthly meetings or events in Dunedin until further notice, we hope that some of the projects we have undertaken will live on and continue to have an impact on young people in Dunedin, and the legacy of the program will exist in the passion of our alumni. ![]()
We would like to extend special thanks to Claudia, Georgia and of course Maureen who have been our education coordinators, and have each contributed so much to the programs success over many years. We would also like to thank the previous student co-chairs Stephanie, Ben, Hetty, Nicola and Finn as well as Taylor and the rest of the Strategic Leadership Group for the huge contribution they have made to the program.![]()
Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude for the contributions made by the incredible students who have shown that TBK can make a difference the town belt and empower young people to be environmental kaitiaki.![]()
Thank you all for the support you have shown for Town Belt Kaitiaki over the past seven years,![]()
Simon and Ridima
(Co-chairs, Student Leadership Team)
INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY 2024![]()
To our Town Belt Kaitiaki volunteers! You are absolutely marvellous and I appreciate your help so much to help our Town Belt Kaitiaki student leaders do all the things they want to do. I appreciate your skills, your enthusiasm, your kindness and attention to our students and your generous time. THANK YOU!
The focus of TBK's Term 4 Professional Development session was 'Measuring Trees and Carbon Sequestration in the Dunedin Town Belt'. Hopefully we are all skilled in the methods of measuring tree height and girth (DBH) now and on the way to calculating how much carbon our TBK planted trees are are sequestering in the Town Belt. Most of our trees are still pretty young so we had to practice on older ones - but ours will get there!![]()
Thanks to Tim Ashdown and Otago Boys High School for hosting our TBK Term 4 Teacher Professional Development Session. We very much appreciated being in the lovely classroom Tim has created to inspire his students! ![]()
Thanks to our speakers - Associate Professor Janice Lord from Otago University, and Dr Jacqui Amiers, Dr David Bergin, Mike Bergin, and Dr Mark Alexander from Tane's Tree Trust (on Zoom).![]()
And thanks to our TBK Link Teachers who attended and to all our LTs for their hard work this year to keep TBK alive and kicking in our 12 TBK schools!
JUNIORS ROCK!
By Freya, Secretary of the TBK Student Leadership Team![]()
On Thursday, Town Belt Kaitiaki had our November monthly meeting at the Role Model Site. What made this one so special was that is was Junior Led. Our younger members did a wonderful job at stepping up, running fun activities like checking traps, scavenger hunts, and even a shared lunch. Despite the small pattering of rain, it was still a great day to get out into nature!