Volunteers for freshwater monitoring
The Freshwater Monitoring Thematic group of MCC hosted a community meeting at the Ngatimoti Community Rooms on November 24th to talk about how to use SHMAK kits (Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kits). SHMAK kits give landowners, iwi, school and community groups simple, scientifically-sound tools and resources to monitor the ecological health of local streams.
The group of 18 community participants heard from freshwater experts including Helen Forsey from Tasman District Council (TDC), and Scott Keen and Monique Patterson from Tasman Bay Guardians (TBG).
The aim of the meeting was for MCC and TBG to identify volunteer community members to be trained in the used of the kits. These volunteers can then (with support as needed) begin to collect water quality data in their local streams and river sub-catchments not currently being monitored. This will give an indication of the health of these streams, determine their state, as well as contribute towards monitoring the impact of restoration projects developed in land around these streams such as planting natives, newly constructed wetlands, among others.
Annette from the Freshwater Monitoring Thematic Group says:
“We can happily report that the outcome of this meeting is that there are now eight community volunteers wishing to undertake training to use SHMAK kits for testing freshwater and monitoring seven sites in their sub-catchments. Thanks so much to these volunteers!”
This will add to the work Tasman Bay Guardians (TBG) is already doing in the catchment, and supplement the freshwater monitoring Tasman District Council undertakes. TBG runs education programmes with schools on what lives in their local streams, and how to use the SHMAK kits. They’ve recently run a programme with Tapawera School investigating Donalds Creek.
| We need more volunteers! If you are a Motueka Valley resident and you have a local stream you’d like to learn how to collect freshwater data about, please contact Shannon on: coordinator@motuekacatchment.org.nz |