Six schools from Western Bay of Plenty are helping push public awareness of the Waihī Beach dotterel nests with an exhibition of 21 colourful posters in the Waihī Beach Library.

As part of a Bay Conservation Alliance education programme, three posters have been chosen from each school to go on display alongside an array of NZ native bird and taxidermy predators.

“This is a real push to seek advocacy and education for our vandalised dotterel nests,” said Pippa Combes, of Dot Watch Waihī Beach, which hosted a launch event on Monday to bring together the organisations collaborating to help dotterel survive.

Local hapū Te Whānau a Tauwhao, Bay Conservation Alliance, Waihī Beach School, ARRC, the Department of Conservation, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Coastcare, Waihī Beach Environment Society, Predator Free Waihī Beach, Project Parore and Bay of Plenty Regional Council have joined forces to shine a spotlight on the plight of the Northern New Zealand dotterel.

From left: Waihī Beach School pupils Ella Pratt, 11, Mila Hawkes, 11 (in front), and Ruby Richards, 11 who created her poster with Ava Estreich, 11. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

The schools represented are Waihi Beach School, Ōmokoroa Point School, Ōmokoroa No. 1 School, Pahoia School, Te Puna School and Whakamārama School, which also has three posters from their Year 5-6 pupils.

Mayor James Denyer, local hapū representative Reon Tuanau, of Te Whānau a Tauwhao, and DoC biodiversity ranger John Heaphy opened the exhibition on Monday. It runs until October 28. They chose the top three posters to use during the new dotterel season this summer at Waihī Beach.

“They will be printed into life-sized signage and used as part of the Dot Watch Waihī Beach management work for our endangered NZ dotterel this coming summer,” Heaphy said.

Dot Watch coordinator Pip Coombes with a dotterel model. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

In the past two years, dotterel breeding grounds along the coastline, from Brighton Reserve to Island View Reserve, have been deliberately vandalised. Some incidents have been captured on camera.

“These acts aren’t just careless – they’re calculated,” Coombes said. “Our community has worked tirelessly to safeguard these precious taonga, yet the behaviour of a few visitors has destroyed countless nests, eggs and chicks and puts hundreds of hours of voluntary work to waste.”

She said humans are the biggest threat, with mammalian predator control well established by a dedicated team at Predator Free Waihī Beach.

Waihī Beach School pupils Violet Connolly, 9, and Beau MacDuff, 9, have been Dot Watch Kaitiaki over the last four years. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Waihī Beach School pupil and Dot Watch Kaitiaki Violet Connolly, 9, and Beau MacDuff, 9, are part of the dedicated crew who’ve been helping to protect and monitor the dotterel nests over the last four years. “We put up signs and fences around the nests, so people know to stay away,” Connolly said.

“We want to make it safe for the nests,” MacDuff said.

“For Dot Watch Waihī Beach, the poster exhibition stands as a beacon of light,” Coombes said. “It reflects the dedication of local tamariki, volunteers, and community members who continue to step up and protect our dotterels.”