Written by Kaitiaki Whangaroa. Adapted by MTS.
Ko Te Awaroa te wai
Ko Te Awaroa te ora
Ko Te Awaroa e rere ana
He mihi
Thank you Pat, Greer and Tracy from Whitebait Connection - Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust for sharing your knowledge and experiences of freshwater monitoring in a workshop held in June 2023.
Thank you Ngā kaitiaki o Ngāmoko, Tauranga, Touwai, Kaeo, Pupuke and Te Awaroa for coming together to learn these monitoring tools to help our awa.
Thank you Te Wātea for your shelter and warmth, He Whakatupuranga for your nurturing, and Whare Awhina for your manaakitanga.
We trapped lots of shrimps and all sorts of caddis flies, three species of Īnanga, and three long fin tuna. These young tuna are a taonga that need to live to 80-years-old before they can spawn and reproduce!
We learnt how to test for nitrates, phosphates and e-coli bacteria, and how to measure water clarity, temperature and conductiviity.
We learnt how to identify periphyton, micro-invertebrates and macrophytes and will be keeping the Field Manual at hand to refer back to, that's a definite!
We also learnt that certain waterways in Whangaroa are among the 25% worst in the country and they've been that way for almost 20 years!
We also learnt about planning an effective monitoring program, so the following weekend, we're getting together again and doing just that, as we carry out our first full survey together!
If you're interested, please email Kaitiaki Whangaroa
If you would like to support our organisation and help us reach more people with our marine and freshwater engagement initiates, you can donate or sign up as a volunteer below.
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