Emma Forster, Piha lifeguard and part-time panda.
Emma Forster, Piha lifeguard and part-time panda.
Photograph by Bruce Nicholson
If you see someone walking the streets of Auckland wearing a panda suit, chances are it’s Emma Forster. She’s quite fond of her lion costume, too, and has taken to the streets as a bear once or twice as well.
No, she’s not a ‘furry’, those geeky sci-fi fans that get dressed up as cute animals and go to conventions—although the bubbly 18-year-old would chuckle at the idea. She’s a volunteer for WWF-New Zealand and SAFE, charities that campaign for animal welfare and protection, and the costumes help bring in the bucks.
When Emma’s not in an animal suit, beating the streets for donations and signatures, she’s in a swimsuit, manning the flags at West Auckland’s notorious Piha Beach. A lifeguard at Piha since she was just 14, Emma is now training to become a senior lifeguard. That means driving the inflatable rescue boats that star (along with the heroic lifeguards and stricken surfers) in high-drama real-life television show Piha Rescue.
Piha is in her blood: family day trips and picnics were always to Auckland’s rugged West Coast beaches, and now she’s there every weekend, saving lives—and serving up hot pies at the Piha Store.
Emma, the only child of politically engaged parents, has been passionate about the environment for as long as she can remember. “When I was in primary school my friend and I started our own environment club. At lunchtimes we’d go to the library and write down facts about different animals.”
She hasn’t always been quiet about it, either. “I was probably eight or nine when they started chopping down trees at my primary school, putting them in a wood chipper. I got a wee group of eight-year-olds together, we made little signs and we went out protesting, yelling at the people who were chopping the trees down.
“We got told off for doing that, but I was so passionate about those trees!”
High school was no different. Known as the ‘green girl’, Emma spent her final year at Avondale College campaigning for a paper recycling scheme.
“You have no idea how hard it is to get a recycling system happening at a high school,” she says with a sigh. “I couldn’t believe the lack of enthusiasm, especially some of the teachers and management.”
Joining forces with a teacher who shared the same passion helped. So did being prepared to shake things up a little. “I wasn’t really a trouble-maker—well, maybe a wee bit—but I was also deputy head girl so I had a bit of respect from the teachers.”
It took her the entire year, writing submissions to the principal, discussing it with teachers, recruiting student volunteers. “You’ve got to go in there ready to debate. I was writing letters and finding evidence to back up my points. I had to be quite professional about it.”
It worked: the scheme is still running, with a bigger volunteer base, and the school is looking at expanding it to other recyclables. “It should be compulsory in every school,” says Emma. Who could disagree?
She’s just finished her first year of an art and design degree at Whitecliffe College, with plans to major in photography and film, and Emma is as passionate and enthusiastic as ever.
“Some people look at the recycling scheme and think it’s a silly little thing. I had teachers saying that to me. What I tell people is that it’s not a waste of time. This little recycling thing, you can put that down in your life as something you’ve actually contributed towards making this place a bit better.”
