More than 75 Waihī Beach School students gathered to create fish sculptures made entirely from discarded waste materials as part of an environmental art project that focuses on the issues of plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
It was an initiative guided by Sustainable Waihī Beach called Forgotten Promises Project – Ocean Conservation Art Installations, which saw tamariki work alongside Pacific creative and cultural leader Stan Wolfgramm.
Students used discarded plastic bottles and recycled waste materials, including nurdles – tiny lentil-sized plastic pellets that continue to wash ashore at Waihī Beach following the MV Rena grounding.
Sustainable Waihī Beach’s Pippa Coombes said their presence served as a stark reminder that, even 15 years on, the environmental impacts of the disaster continued to threaten fragile marine ecosystems and coastal wildlife.
“These individual student-created pieces will come together to form a large-scale hanging mobile artwork designed to spark conversation, raise awareness about plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean, and highlight the urgent need for collective action to protect and restore our marine environments,” she said. “It is hoped the completed installation will be displayed within regional libraries and community spaces to educate and inspire wider conversations around sustainability, marine conservation and collective responsibility for the health of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Pacific Ocean.”
Stan shared the development of a new digital platform he designed called Moana Pasifika, which combined indigenous knowledge systems with conservation and environmental action. “The app is currently in final-stage development, and is designed as an interactive ‘Ocean Guardian’ experience where users create and restore their own virtual ocean sanctuary.
“Combining education, conservation and indigenous knowledge systems, the platform encourages users to reconnect with the ocean through restoration-based gameplay and environmental action.”
The platform is currently being explored for future launch across Apple and Android devices and is being tested by the environmental student leaders at Waihī Beach School to better understand how rangatahi engage with environmental learning through digital technology and interactive storytelling.
Waihī Beach School principal Rachael Coll said the visit represented an exciting opportunity to connect creativity, culture and environmental action in meaningful and practical ways.
