Sanctuary on the Faultline

Social Studies Online

TEACHER Sally Mathieson

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Select and adapt these learning activities to best meet the needs of your students, and to fit the time available:

Starter Activities

1. Class discussion of significant places
   List, group and label

2. People and places
   Working in pairs, students put ideas on a star diagram about "How people show that they value a place", eg. photograph it, write about it, give money to preserve it, visit it, get excited about it.

   Then share ideas. Keep a list of the best ones to use as a checklist at the end of the unit.

3. My own special place
   Students identify a place that is significant for them. Write an Acrostic Poem about it explaining why it is special to them, and why it might be special to other people as well.

Introducing a special place - Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

4. How do I get there?
   Two young backpackers have just flown in to Auckland airport. They have heard about the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and are very keen to visit it. Students write a description telling them how to get there, including: the distance, time required, the direction, places or landmarks they will pass and/or are nearby.

   Students use an atlas and the following Web site to get the information:

   • Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

5. Words to know
   Teacher References:
   
   • What is a World Heritage Area?

   Match these words with their correct definitions.
   Answers to Words to Know

Getting to know the valley of the Upper Kaiwharawhara Stream, where the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary is located

6. The Valley
   Use these photos and the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Web site to answer the following questions:
   1. Describe the relief of the valley.
   2. What is the vegetation like? Does it vary from place to place? Give details.
   3. What cultural feature can you see in the valley?
   4. What do you think the water behind the dams may have been used for?
   5. Look at the aerial photo of the valley on the Web site. Do you notice anything unusual about the shape of the valley? Explain.
   6. Suggest a reason why people might like to go to the valley.

7. Changes over time
   To introduce the timeline, give a brief background to what was happening in New Zealand in the three time periods listed (1820-1850s, 1850-1860s, 1906-1908) in relation to clearing forests for farmland and later growing environmental awareness.

   Teacher references:

   • The Story of New Zealand, Historical Atlas of New Zealand
   • NZHistory.Net
   • Timeline of NZ History

   Look at the old photo of the valley and photos of land clearance in New Zealand, eg. from Timeframes (username: timeframes password: images).

8. History of the Valley
   Draw a timeline of the history of the valley using Karori Wildlife Sanctuary history.

   Draw your timeline on the left of the page and mark it evenly from 1820 to 2000, using a scale of 1cm = 10 years. To the right of the timeline draw simple sketches to show how the valley was being used at the following periods:
   1820 - 1850
   1850 - 1860s
   1870 - 1905
   1906 - 1998
   

9. Changing Places
   How would the valley in 1998 be different from the valley in 1820? Spend 5 minutes brainstorming ideas. Students might like to think about an area of regenerating bush that they know and compare it with virgin forest.

   You could consider

   • how the forest has changed (different range of native species)
   • introduced trees (various pines in the photos)
   • other introduced plants (such as weeds)
   • changes in native bird life
   • other bird life
   • introduced predators
   • the dams, gold mines tower etc

   Combine ideas from the brainstorm into different categories to produce a mind map. Give the mind map a title.

10. Setting up the Sanctuary
    1. What would you need to do to turn this area into a wildlife sanctuary?

    2. Was it really necessary to build an expensive 8.6km fence around the Sanctuary? Why?

    3. The Wellington Fault runs along the middle of this valley. If there was a major earthquake and the fault moved, how do you think this would affect the valley?

Making the Sanctuary special - a 500 year project

11. A Special Place
    Jim Lynch was the man who had the original vision for the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.

    Write an imaginary email from Jim Lynch to keen conservationist friends explaining why you are so excited about your ideas for the valley. Explain to them why this place is special now and why it is going to be even more special in the future.

    Background ideas for development

From the vision to the reality
Not everybody was keen on the Sanctuary idea.

12. Points of view
    Points of view resources

    Draw a continuum and label one end IN FAVOUR and the other end AGAINST. Add a title.

    1. Choose five people with a range of views and put them on the continuum in the appropriate place.

    2. Choose three people with different views and suggest reasons why they hold those views.

    3. Suggest possible consequences of people holding different points of view.

13. Changing Points of View
    Analyse how some of the people who expressed their opinions have changed their attitude to the santuary.

14. The Road to the Sanctuary Game
    Involves classifying helpful things/hindrances to the establishment of the sanctuary. Work in groups of four.

    Draw up a board with 12 x 12 squares about 4cm x 4cm. Students write items on cards, then decide the scoring (+ or - 1 to 5) and add to each card - eg. very helpful (such as a huge donation), move on five points; a slight setback, move back one point. Each player has a counter or button. Pick up top card to start. Play the game in the group.

    The Road to the Sanctuary resources

A mainland island
There are a number of offshore islands which are also special places. They are wildlife sanctuaries and largely predator free. Examples are Tiritirimatangi north of Auckland and Kapiti Island north of Wellington. These are playing a very valuable role in conserving New Zealand's wildlife. In addition there are now several areas on the mainland which have specially valuable bush and birdlife and are getting concentrated pest control by DOC to preserve them. These are "Mainland islands".

The Karori Wildlife Sanctuary is a kind of mainland island, but it is different because:

• It is not government funded
• It has a central city location
• It is being restored as a complete ecosystem

It is surrounded by a unique, specially designed fence that can keep out 14 different predators. It is the only pest-free area on the New Zealand mainland.

15. The Sanctuary Equation
    Why is the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary such a special place for people?

16. Mapping the future
    For this activity students should refer to the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Web site focusing on A Vision for the Sanctuary and Why have a Sanctuary?

    Map of Karori Wildlife Sanctuary

    Draw an illustrated map, with descriptive notes, to show what the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary valley will look like in 100 years. Show the features that will make this valley so special that people with an interest in New Zealand bush and wildlife will want to go there. (Include things you can hear as well as see.)

RESOURCES

Print

• Burch J. (1997) The Karori Reservoir area A brief history Wellington: The Karori Historical Society (Inc)
  Available from the Secretary, Box 17-196, Karori, Wellington.
• Lynch J. (1995) Karori reservoir: island sanctuary on the mainland Forest and Bird No. 275
• (1988) Jacaranda Resource Atlas for New Zealand, Auckland: The Jacaranda Press
• McKinnon M., Bradley B. & Kirkpatrick R. (Ed) (1997) Historical Atlas of New Zealand Auckland: David Bateman in association with Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs
• Bassett J., Sinclair K. & Stenson M. (1997) The Story of New Zealand Auckland: Reed Methuen
• New Zealand Geographic Number 28 Oct-Dec 1995

Electronic

• Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Web site
• Forest and Bird
• DOC Web site
• World Wildlife Fund
• National Library

Acknowledgements

Photo: Wellington. Karori Reservoir. C1880s. Burton Bros collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington. Ref. No. G-3187-1/1-