Native Plant Identification Course
Mā te huruhuru te manu ka rere | Adorn the bird with feathers so it may fly
Your plant knowledge can have a real conservation impact
Discover plants found nowhere else on Earth.
Ever wondered what that plant on the track is, and what it’s telling you? In this online course, you’ll learn how to identify Aotearoa New Zealand’s native plants, understand how plant communities work, and use that knowledge to assess habitat health. Whether you’re a volunteer, a landowner, or simply curious, you’ll finish with skills you can use the next time you step outside.
- Duration: 30-40 hours
- Delivery: Online
- Train when it suits you
- Level: Introductory/Intermediate
Sound familiar?
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What You Will Learn
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- Fall in love with what's growing around you
- Understand how nature actually works
- Read the health of a habitat
- Know what belongs and what doesn't
In this module, we’ll begin to explore some of the incredible native plants that grow in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’ll look at how they came to be, what makes them unique, and the threats they face.
Learn how isolation shaped our flora
Go over New Zealand’s unique and unusual plant characteristics
Look at different plant communities & ecosystems
Learn about their cultural significance
Find out about the threats to native flora
Delivery: Online
In this module, we’re going to explore the basics of taxonomy; what it is and why it’s important.
We’ll also look at how plants are named and grouped together. We’ll use this knowledge to zoom in and look closely at two of our native plant families and some of the species contained within.
- Learn about what taxonomy is
- Look at some taxonomic names and the clues they give us about a species
- Learn why taxonomy matters in New Zealand
- Dive deeper into two plant families
Delivery: Online
By now you have developed an understanding of how special our native plants are, how they are named and how they are related to each other. In this module, we move from the broad world of taxonomy into the practical skills of recognising and naming plants based on their physical features.
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Delivery: Online
We will now explore Aotearoa New Zealand’s threatened plant species; what they are, how they’re classified, and how we can contribute to their recovery.
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Delivery: Online
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Delivery: [Online / In-person / Both]. Approx. [X] hours.
Wayne O'Keefe
[Tauira Mahi Tutor / Botany, Conservation
Having moved to Aotearoa, NZ in 2001, Wayne quickly developed a passion for our unique biodiversity. Since starting his contracting business in 2002, he has been fortunate enough to work in the community conservation space supporting and guiding conservation groups and landowners to achieve their conservation goals. This has helped him to develop a broad understanding of ecological processes, especially coastal and forest ecology and the challenges we face in caring for them.
He is a self-confessed native plant geek and has a particular interest in natural regeneration and native forest establishment.
Wayne has held roles with the QEII National Trust, Trees that Count, Whakātane Kiwi Trust, Kōkako Ecosystem Expansion Programme (KEEP) and Bay Conservation Alliance.
- [Credential or qualification]
- [25 years in NZ conservation space]
- [Notable project or role]
Pricing
Single Unit Launch Special
Including GST per person
- Course notes available to download
- Series of knowledge check quizzes
- Viewtorials for each module
- Certificate of completion
Enrolling In More Than One Unit?
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