West Auckland Camp leads the way in environmental stewardship and education

More Auckland school children have attended school camp at Carey Park than any other camp in our region. Carey Park’s vision is to become the most sustainable residential camp in the North Island and hopes to take every opportunity to teach environmental stewardship and sustainability to each-and every-camper who steps foot on its grounds.

Serving over 86,000 meals per annum could create a significant of food waste, but not for Carey Park. Frying oil used in the kitchen is offered free of charge to local bio-fuel diesel users. All food scraps are gathered and placed in a state-of-the-art worm composting system whereby campers and staff may use the compost and organic fertilizer produced in a stream and bush replanting program. These measures have removed tens-of thousands of kilograms of waste from local landfills.

In order to improve stream ecology, Carey Park has partnered with the Auckland Regional Council Water Allocation Officers, Waitakere Council’s Wai Care and Twin Streams Project to improve the ecology of the Opanuku Stream, one of Waitakere’s most important streams. “Our kids had a once in a life-time experience of kayaing on the stream,” Jacqui Tutivake, Henderson South School. Balancing its desire to improve stream ecology and ensure school children experience safe adventures such as kayaking on the Opanuku, Carey Park is installing one of the Waitakere Ranges first-ever fish passes over a weir that has existed for 80 years. New Zealand’s leading expert in fish biology, Charles Mitchell Associates, has engineered this pass. School children will get to study and measure weak swimming fish traveling up stream.

Carey Park has recently hosted “Life in the Valley Days” partnering with the Residents and Ratepayers of Henderson Valley. These days have featured easy projects to do around the home (including identifying and removing invasive weed species) to improve the ecology of the entire Henderson Valley. Hundreds of families have attended these free seminars.

Carey Park Master Plan goals for the next five years include gathering 100% of rain water from camp roofs thereby ensuring airborne pollutants are kept from Waitakere waterways, installing solar hot water systems, and improving the general sustainability of the camp.

Over 4,000 Auckland school children will attend camp at Carey Park this school year. Each of those children will be educated in how to take these learnings back to their local communities and homes improving the sustainability in homes and schools all over the Auckland Region.

ENDS

© Scoop Media