Pupils across Manawatū are being greeted by creepy crawlies as they undertake guided tours at a popular Feilding park.

Over the next three weeks, more than 300 children from eight Manawatū schools will visit Kitchener Park as part of the newly-established Transpower education programme.

The 13-hectare Feilding park is one of the last remaining areas of original semi-swamp podocarp forest in the region, and is home to matai, totara, kowhai and an 800-year-old kahikatea. It is also home to a range of insects, skinks and geckos.

Pupils are participating in four activities with former curator Gavin Scott, members of iwi Ngati Kauwhata, and Horizons enviroschools educators Rowena Brown and Sarah Williams.

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MURRAY WILSON/STUFF Tiratahi Taipana from Te Ngau o Te Tapa Te Whata Whare explains the Māori history of Kitchener Park to pupils.

Awahuri Forest Kitchener Park Trust chairwoman Jill Darragh said the children would learn about the park's ancient trees, and find some creepy crawlies and birds. Members of the iwi would also shed light on the park's Māori history.

As part of the programme, Ngati Kauwhata have created information kiosks, which are now installed under a covered hut near the park's entrance.

﻿St Joseph's School teacher Teresa McFarlane said the park visit aligned with a project the school was doing on well-being, which looked at a pupils' connection to the land.

"One of the rotations was about the history of the area and this was a great way to introduce children to the idea of family/whanau roots and connections to land. This was of real interest to the Māori children in my classroom."

McFarlane said the lessons about birdlife, native trees and bugs tied nicely with the Catholic view of protecting God's creation.

"It was a practical way of the children learning about how everything in the ecosystem is interconnected."

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF Manawatū enviroschools facilitator Rowena Brown takes pupils from Taonui School for a tour of the park.

​Darragh said the programme would run twice in 2020 and include other modules, such as the aquatic life in the Makino Stream.

"There will also be upcoming educational projects covering biological control of noxious weeds and events for special needs students."

The park has a long history with harmful weeds. In the early 1990s, the park was overrun with tradescantia, wandering willy and old man's beard, which were suffocating the forest and stopping rejuvenation.

It has experienced several upgrades since then, such as a toilet block and boarded walkway.

The most significant discovery in the park came last year, when then-curator Gavin Scott stumbled across two rare native pōkākā seedlings, less than 2 centimetres tall, unseen in the Manawatū forest for 23 years.