Art Competition

Draw the native plants, animals and fungi that are found in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Greening Taupō is all about native restoration. We are planting corridors of native bush and carrying out predator control (through Predator Free Taupō) to try to bring back biodiversity.

By asking students to draw the native plants, animals and fungi that are found in Aotearoa New Zealand, we hope to get students thinking about how unique and special many of our species are and how they can not be found anywhere else in the world. 

Native species are ones that occur in an area without human influence. Some are also endemic, meaning a species that is only found in one area. Aotearoa has many unique native and endemic species! 80% of the plants found in Aotearoa are endemic, like the giants kahikatea and tōtara, and famous ones like the silver fern and kōwhai. Almost half of the birds, like the kiwi and karearea, are endemic, and another quarter, like the Australasian bittern and tauhou are native. Lots of insects here are only found in Aotearoa too, with 90% being endemic, such as the wētā and the New Zealand bat fly. Some cool examples of the endemic fungi are basket fungi and werewerekokako, also known as the blue fungi. Each of these species is super special to Aotearoa!

Click on the different links to see resources and learn more about our native and endemic species that will support this competition. :  plants, animals, fungi 

Competition is open to all school-aged students. All types of art mediums are welcome.

To enter download the competition below and then drop off your completed entry to:

Huka Honey Hive, 65 Karetoto Road, Wairakei (just off Wairakei Drive, heading north out of Taupo) by Friday June 14th.

There are prizes for winning individual students, and the winning class will win a visit by author/illustrator Donovan Bixley, so remember to put your room number on your entry!