The National Environment Service recently took part in the Aitutaki Careers Expo held on the 10th of July, 2025 at the Araura College hall. The NES booth had a range of learning opportunities for the students, showcasing the work done at national level. These engaging activities ranged from biodiversity jenga, whereby participants learnt the importance of wetlands as an ecosystem and how building or backfilling can cause instability, to a quiz that highlighted the importance of recycling and reducing single-use-plastic.
Kua rave’ia atu te Aitutaki Careers Expo ite ra 10 o Tiurai i roto ite Araura college Hall, kua tomo atu te Tuanga Taporoporo. Ko te tua tuanga ote Tuanga Taporoporo (NES) takainga apii’anga note au tamariki apii, akakite’anga ite au tu rare i oti, ite taunga Natura. Te au tu raverave’anga note tarekareka Ao Ora Natura (biodiversity jenga), kua tamou ratou ite puapinga ote ngai vai, eaa te au mea ka tupu, te tuanga ote patu’anga, te au pakau ka tupu me kare e aru’ia te au takai’anga ate Tuanga Taporoporo. Tetai tarekareka rongonui i rave’ia no runga ite akapuapinga akaou ete akarare akaou e tai taime no te paratiki.
Last year, two marine assessments in Aitutaki showed the need for lagoon conservation. Aitutaki NES officers, Linda Ruamoana and Alone Davey used this as an opportunity to highlight the importance of coral restoration to the students. Ruamoana and Davey demonstrated an example of coral growth by having students tie pieces of coral to rope, explaining that this method is left in the lagoon for corals to develop and is aimed to restore marine habitat.
I te maitaiti i topa, e rua tumutoa ote Moana i Aitutaki nei, tei akari atu ite inangaro ote mana tika ote moana. Te Opita ote Tuanga Taporoporo i Aitutaki nei, Linda Ruarangi e Alone Davey, kua riro teia ei ngakau parau’anga ite akari’anga ite puapinga ote kaoa kite tamariki apii. Kua riro atu teia nga Opita ei akari atu, raverave’anga ki te tamariki kia tapekapeka atu te kaoa ki runga ite taura. Akamaramarama’anga te puapinga ote kaoa i roto ite moana ete au takai’anga ka anoano’ia tatou note uki ki mua.
NES consultant Mike Bowie had a dragonfly and damselfly nymphs display where students were able to feed the nymphs with mosquito larvae. Participants learnt the importance of dragonflies not only to our ecosystems, but the importance they have as natural mosquito eradicators for human health. Mike also stressed the importance of looking after the waterways where these and other native aquatic species live by avoiding pollution that will impact them.
Tuanga Taporoporo Consultant Mike Bowie, kua riro aia ei akari atu ite manumanu rikiriki mei te pakiriavai, ki te tamariki apii akapeea ite angai ite manumanu rikiriki kite namu. Akatere’anga ite apii’anga ite puapinga ote pakiriavai e tetai au manumanu rikiriki, kare no to tatou ao natura ua, ko te puapinga o tetai tangata natura e kimi oonu, koikoi ite puapinga ote namu ki to tatou oraanga tangata. Kua akari katoa a Mike ite puapinga ote taporoporo i tetai ngai taeanga vai, pera katoa te rangatira maori,manu vai, tuke teia tuanga rare ora, ite kopae ke ite nga parakino i roto ite vai kia kore e takinokino i te ngai vai.
From the number of activities, students were given questionnaires based on the exercises at our booth to go into the draw to win a brand new Avanti bicycle. The winning participant stayed at our booth to learn in depth, the impacts of building or backfilling wetlands, understanding how increasing temperatures impacts the lagoon through algae build-up and coral bleaching, the number of dragonfly and damselfly species there are in the Cook Islands, and lastly, the importance of recycling and how reducing dependency on single-use-plastic will have a positive impact on waste management. Their determination to learn more about our environment led to his success in being the first questionnaire drawn to have all 7 questions correct. NES would like to warmly congratulate Ben Kiria of Araura College for being the winner of a brand new Avanti bicycle!
Ki te numero ote raverave’anga, kua oake‘ia atu teia au uianga kite au tamariki, atui’anga kite apii’anga ete tumu manako teia akari ‘ia kite ratou, te ka tomo atu ki roto ite ruru’anga note re atu ite patikara takatakai (Avanti Bicycle). Ko te tamaiti tei re atu kua noo ua aia ki te tua ote Tuanga Taporoporo i te kimi oonu tetai maramarama nona, te tukino ote patu are, te tuanga ote ngai vai, kite marama note paunu’anga ote tukino ote moana, tupu’anga ote rimu, kaoa e mate nei i roto ite tai, te numero ote pakiriavai e tetai au manumanu rikiriki i roto ite Kuki Aerani, manako openga, te puapinga ote akapuapinga akaou, ete akarare akaou i tetai pakau paratiki e tai taime kia matutu te tukino ote ngai titiri’anga tita. kia anoano’ia ratou kia apii, tamou ite Tuanga Taporoporo i arataki ia ratou kite aranui meitaki. Te peapa uianga mua teia tei tano katoatoa tona pauanga. Kua rauka atu ite Tuanga Taporoporo ite akapumaana ete akameitaki atu ia Ben Kiria ko tei re atu ite patikara takatakai (Avanti Bicycle) mea ou.
