Greening Taupō on RNZ!
June was a big month for Greening Taupō! During one of our regular Wicked Weeders sessions, we had a special visitor, Claire Concannon from RNZ. Claire joined us to see our restoration work in action and hear the stories behind what we do. She later shared these on RNZ’s Our Changing World podcast.
Project Tongariro CEO Kiri Te Wano chatted with Claire about the journey, from the origins of Project Tongariro following a tragic helicopter accident, to the launch of Greening Taupō and our growing network of projects, including Kids Greening Taupō, Predator Free Taupō, and Warmarino Restoration.
While our Wicked Weeders got stuck into weeding, Claire interviewed WW Celia, coordinators, and some enthusiastic students from Kids Greening Taupō. It was such a great opportunity for everyone to share their stories and perfect timing too, as we were right in the middle of preparing for our biggest annual event, Greening Taupō Day, which Claire also managed to feature!
Claire also visited the southern end of the lake, speaking with local ecologist Nick Singers and dedicated Project Tongariro volunteer Shirley Potter to see the inspiring wetland restoration work they’ve undertaken in Tauranga-Taupō. This success story became another RNZ podcast episode, The Willows and the Wetland.
Claire’s interview with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ provides a quick snapshot of both podcast episodes. Interview with Jesse Mulligan
A huge thank you to Claire for taking the time to experience our work. You did an incredible job putting it all together, highlighting the amazing community-led conservation and environmental education happening right here in Taupō, and sharing our story with the rest of Aotearoa. 💚
You can find the article with links to all the episodes here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchangingworld/568977/our-changing-world-turning-taupo-green
