Waipāhīhī Gully Project

Waipahihi School, Richmond Kindergarten, and Central Kids Waipāhīhī Kindergarten frequently took their tamariki to the Waipāhīhī gully for ngahere trips before the development of the area. They used it for biodiversity monitoring, nature play, predator control, environmental education, and bush school sessions. Students started planting the gully with native trees in 2019 with Kids Greening Taupō.

In 2021 they were disappointed to hear that the area was being developed and for a while their gully trips had to stop. However, the developers helped them to reconnect with the space by involving them in restoring the area with thousands of native trees (read about that below). In 2025 tamariki were able to work again with Kids Greening Taupō, Taupō District Council and the developers to plant 3500 of the 14,000 more native trees added to the gully. Over three days, every child from Waipāhīhī School and many groups of kindergarten children joined us to learn about native plants and then put some into the whenua.

It was a fantastic collaborative community effort, with Taupō District Council providing food for the hungry planters, the developers providing the plants, and Grattan Contractors digging the holes, laying out the plants and even helping the kids to plant. Mitre 10 MEGA Taupō provided gloves for the hundreds of children who came to help. The tamariki involved learnt about restoring biodiversity and the importance of our native species through on-the-ground work. They now have a renewed sense of ownership of their local gully and will be able to proudly watch their forest grow over the next few years.

Photos of 2025 Planting

Waipāhīhī Gully Development Project 2021

Waipāhīhī Gully got a makeover in 2021. As part of a local subdivision development project above Waipāhīhī Gully, the developers put a large sum of money into restoring and conserving native habitat in the local gully. This will not only improve local native biodiversity, but it will also improve the wellbeing of the community surrounding the gully.

Waipāhīhī Gully Site Visit

Early in 2021 our Kids Greening Taupō Environmental Education Coordinators met with the Waipāhīhī Gully development manager and other interested parties. At this meeting we discussed the importance of the gully and the areas of significance. For Waipāhīhī Primary School and Waipāhīhī Kindergarten this included areas used for bush school and kindergarten activities.

Gully Exploration

Waipāhīhī Primary School student leaders enjoyed getting out in the gully to explore and play. Sian observed how the student leaders moved through the gully and what areas were significant for them. The students talked about the diversity in interests at bush school, with students enjoying playing near the Gruffalo Cave, running up and rolling down hills, searching for bugs, identifying birds and plants, drawing, writing and playing in various ways.

Biodiversity Studies

Both Waipāhīhī Primary School and Waipāhīhī Kindergarten have been involved with biodiversity surveys on school sites and in the Waipāhīhī Gully over the past few years. These surveys include bug, bird, plant and pest counts using survey sheets, scavenger hunts and tracking tunnels.

Writing Letters

Waipahihi Primary School students mind mapped their kōrero about bush school activities, areas of importance and observations in the gully. They then wrote a letter to the Gully Development Manager and Wildland Consultants contractors.

Vision Plans

Students expressed the importance of getting everyone on board with the gully project. A part of this was making vision plans for the most important area of the gully- The Gruffalo Cave. This is where the Gruffalo lives in the gully (as seen below). Gruffalo footprints and resting spots are often sighted in the gully where the students like to play.

Marking out important parts of the gully for Wildlands contractors

Students from Waipāhīhī Primary School headed into the gully to tape logs, stumps, and trees to keep in the gully for their vision plans. These will later be used for bug hotels, hut building materials, natural tables and chairs for nature observation and logs for balancing in the gully.

Environmental Education

With regular bush kindergarten visits to the gully for Waipāhīhī Kindergarten and bush school visits for Waipāhīhī Primary School, lots of of natural student-led education opportunities arose. Waipāhīhī Kindergarten were lucky to find a dead possum in the gully one day which spurred on lots of conversations about pests and Predator Free 2050 at both education organisations.

A Collaborative Planting Effort

On the 17th August 2021, 100 students from Waipāhīhī Primary School, 10 students from Waipāhīhī Kindergarten, and contractors from Wildland Consultants came together in Waipāhīhī Gully for a collaborative planting day. Thanks to Wildland Consultants contractors who did the hard mahi preparing the gully for planting, the students were able to put over 800 plants in the ground!

Over the week 5000 plants were going to be planted into that section of the gully by Wildland Consultants, but due to the lockdown which came into place that evening, the contractors had to put their tools down until further notice.

Lockdown postponement

Unfortunately our planting scheduled for the 25th August 2021 with Te Kura O Waitahanui had to be postponed.

Over the lockdown our local community were guardians for the gully, watching over the plants and logs while on their daily bubble walks.

Post Lockdown

Wildland Contractors have gone above and beyond creating steps and a walkway up to the Gruffalo Cave, tables and chairs, log trails and stepping stumps for balancing, while leaving lots of sticks and logs for bug piles and hut building.

Nature play in Waipāhīhī Gully

Waipāhīhī Primary School students absolutely adore their new natural play areas of the gully! Here are some photos of the students building huts, balancing along logs and enjoying some of the constructed natural log seats.

Thank you for involving us in this large gully restoration project:

• Todd Land Development Consultants Ltd.

• Wildland Consultants

• John and Kellie Penny from Penny Homes

• Tauhara Management Ltd.

• Taupō District Council

• Grattan Contractors