A Pāpāmoa College student’s creative take on wetland conservation has earned national recognition.

Year 11 Layla Clarke, 15, won the Year 9-13 Art Category at the Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Mātauranga Māori Science and Design Fair in Rotorua.

Organised by the Te Arawa Lakes Trust at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre, the fair brought together hundreds of students from 26 schools across the country.

Layla’s project, also part of her media studies assessment, was the first-ever film entry in the fair.

Her short film was named Te Hā o te Repo (The Breath of the Wetlands) and she said the title captured the idea that the “wetland is alive”.

“It breathes, changes, and supports all this life within it.”

Layla said she wanted the film to make the wetland feel like something living rather than a piece of land or water that “happens to be there”.

“I suppose if something has a breath, there is also the idea that we have to protect it and keep that breath going.

“The close-up shots of birds, plants, water and movement, with the natural sounds and music all helped create that feeling.”

Layla said she was “really happy” and proud when she found out she had won her category.

“Winning was obviously amazing, but seeing people actually stop and engage with the film meant a lot too.

Layla's film was inspired by the wetlands stretching through Pāpāmoa and those around Te Ara o Wairākei.

“Knowing people had watched it, understood something from it or even just stopped and really looked at the wetlands for a few minutes was just as important.”

Layla said film felt like the perfect medium to tell the story of wetlands because it allowed her to capture their movement, sounds and life.

“I also liked that I didn’t have to directly tell the audience what to think.

“There was no dialogue so I had to communicate the message through what they were seeing and hearing and hopefully make them feel something about the wetlands for themselves.”

Her film was inspired by the wetlands stretching through Pāpāmoa and those around Te Ara o Wairākei near her home.

Layla said that because wetlands were integral to Pāpāmoa, it was easy to take them for granted and stop noticing them.

“That was really where the idea came from, I wanted people to recognise how important these spaces are to our community and that we have a responsibility to look after them.”

Layla Clarke filming her short film Te Hā o te Repo (The Breath of the Wetlands).

She said one of the biggest challenges of the film project was that nature doesn’t always perform on command.

“You can’t decide that the birds are going to be in exactly the right place when you arrive or that the light will be perfect or that something interesting will happen suddenly.”

Layla said she was “lucky enough” to capture native birdlife, including a kingfisher, and filmed a pūkeko trying to remove rubbish from its foot.

“After establishing the beauty and life of the wetland, I used that footage as a contrast to show the impact people can have on te taiao [environment].”

She said the message she hoped young people would take from her film was to “look around you”.

“We live in such a beautiful country and sometimes I think we get so used to it that we stop noticing what is actually around us.

“Look at the wetlands, beaches, forests or waterways near where you live, notice what is there and think about what you can actually do to help look after it.”

Kaitlyn Morrell is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.