A group of year 10 students from Christchurch's Catholic Cathedral College have been working to clean up the estuary from Bridge St to the end of Southshore Spit Reserve.
For 14 consecutive school days, teacher Wendy Crossen would arrive every morning with a different group of 10 students to collect discarded rubbish over a distance of about 5km.
Said Crossan: “Our focus has been on collecting small pieces of plastic that birds often mistake for food.
“During this time, we have collected 16.5 large bags full of rubbish, including hundreds of milk bottle lids, straws, lollipop sticks, discarded beer bottles, McDonald’s packaging, cans, and other waste.
“As part of this project, we have learned about specific bird species and taken a special interest in helping the godwits survive.”
Estuary Trust manager Tanya Jenkins said the estuary was a designated site of international importance for migratory waterbirds and the work done by the students was crucial for its maintenance.
“A total of 129 different bird species reside or migrate via our estuary which is just amazing considering this wetland is surrounded by housing and used intensively for recreation purpose.
“It has been fabulous to see this school allowing students to take a practical approach to learning about our local natural environment and how to help look after it.”
