Last Saturday marked Earth Day, an international day of recognition to Papatūānuku and to raise awareness for environmental issues. To celebrate, around 30 students from a diverse range of OUSA clubs gathered at Woodhaugh Gardens “to celebrate te taiao (the natural world), tangata (people) and kai (food).”
Around half a dozen clubs with “similar values” gathered to “connect and strengthen enviro community,” said Slow Food Youth Otago member Zoe. A major focus for Otago Campus Vegans (OCV) member Jowan was on creating a coalition between environmental clubs. “Community building has shown to work as an effective means of building a movement that’s sustainable,” said Jowan.
For AAPES member Ben, Earth Day is about “recognition of being a part of a larger earth system and being interconnected with everything.” Ty (Ngāti Maniapoto) said that, despite being so close to nature, “it’s easy to forget how lucky we are.” Meanwhile, OCV member Klem said, “I’m just here because I enjoy walking and trees.”
And indeed, the event included a brisk nature walk through the ngāhere (forest). On the stroll UniQ member Ty told Critic Te Ārohi about the interconnectedness of the ngāhere. Trees like the native kahikatea have massive intricate connected root systems meaning that they can withstand pretty much anything. And like the roots of the kahikatea, “when connected we’ll take whatever comes our way,” said Ty, referring to the clubs’ goal of increased cooperation.
While appreciating local fungal flora and fauna, we got schooled by third-year Ecology student Linea. “There’s so much life in the world you just have to know where to look for it,” she said. Speaking of life, Critic Te Ārohi learnt that mushrooms are the sexual reproductive parts of mycelium. The more you know. Some psilocybin shrooms may have also been spotted, but we’re professionals.
Over kai, we asked the environmentally-conscious students what the biggest environmental issue is. “Climate change” was the crowd favourite by a long shot, with Otago Campus Christians member Linea adding a timely “neoliberal capitalism”. We suggest she check out our last issue.