Student conservationists from Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu got stuck into a clean-up along the Waikanae Stream by the skatepark recently. Photo / Supplied
Student conservationists from Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu got stuck into a clean-up along the Waikanae Stream by the skatepark recently. Photo / Supplied
Part of Gisborne’s Waikanae Stream near the skatepark was targeted in a clean-up recently by students’ conservation group Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu.
They were involved in the Whitebait Connection (WBC) programme developed by Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust.
It’s a hands-on educational programme that teaches participants about thesix different whitebait species, their required habitat, their life cycles, water monitoring and how to protect and restore these crucial freshwater sites.
He Awa Ora, He Tai Ora Trust is the regional provider organisation for the WBC and Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) Programmes in Tairāwhiti and has been working closely with the students, teachers and their wider whānau over the last year.
“The site near the skatepark also holds significance in terms of the whitebait migrating path further upstream,” trust manager Amy Hardy said in a statement.
“Our co-ordinators were lucky to have Sofia Drescher, an artist in Tairāwhiti, to work alongside these students and who created our invertebrate stencil templates for them to use.
“This has sparked a lot of ideas and amazing suggestions from the tamariki around how we can advocate for protection of this awa and create more understanding around how important it is to protect the habitat for whitebait species but also all living animals in and around this awa.”
She said the group will push for student artwork over the bridge walkway or near the bridge access way.
