Please find attached the amazing story of Bill Kerrison, an inspiring journey to save a national Taonga. NZRiverawardwinner
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The story of the NZ River Award Winner Bill Kerrison
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Monthly Archives: December 2014
Water quality information for the Wairoa District
As you probably know, every week during summer (1 November – 30 March) HBRC’s science team monitors 37 popular swimming and recreation spots – rivers, coastal beaches and Lake Tutira. All results are available on the HBRC website.
This extract is just to update you on the latest data and results available for the Mahia region.
Rule of Toe! If it’s been raining heavily, HBRCs’ best advice is to stay out of the water for at least 3 days. A handy guideline is that if you can’t see your toes when standing knee-deep in the water, then water quality is not the best for a swim.
Community Event: Mahia Seaside Market
Dates for the diary: On Sunday 4th & 11th January 2015 between 9am and 12pm the Whangawehi Catchment Group will have a tent at the Mahia Seaside Market showcasing:
- restoration programme
- water monitoring programme
- Environmental school programme with Te Mahia school
- pest monitoring programme that is about to start in the New Year
There will also be an opportunity to register your name and email address with us so we are able to contact you regarding, dates, times and possible cancellations & postponement dates of community planting days in 2015. Members of the Whangawehi Catchment Group will be available to answer questions and explain more about what is happening in the Whangawehi Catchment.
Te Mahia School Environmental Programme
On Thursday 11th December, Te Mahia school teachers and Principal, Kathleen, Rae, Jenni, Malcom and Nic gathered to disscuss the Whangawehi environmental programme for 2015. Dates were set around a already busy school year for 10 workshops ranging from planting projects; bugs in stream and fish monitoring; coastal birds (e.g. blue pegiun); catchment trips and the return of the the very popular carving and weaving workshop!!!
Jack’s & D’Magio Blog: Portland Island Trip
Jack and D’Magio from Te Mahia school have uploaded amazing photos and a summary of thier trip to Waikawa (Portland Island) to help with conservation work on the island to Room 1s Blog:
http://temahia.blogspot.com/2014/12/waikawa-jack-dmagio.html
This was a fantatic opportunity and one that was throughly enjoyed by both Jack and D’Magio and many thanks go to Helen Jonas from DOC to make it all possible.
Community Engagement Officer
The WCMG is seeking to engage a part time contractor (500 hours) to assist the group in engaging and building relationship/partnerships with the Mahia community. The role is for a fixed twelve month period with options for extension.
To obtain a Job Description or to forward a full CV and a covering letter (by the 29th of January) contact:
Rae Te Nahu (Secretary) 720 East Coast Road Mahia RD 8 Nuhaka 4198 Hawkes Bay
Email : rae.tenahu@xtra.co.nz (81 words).
For a job description, please follow the link :Community Engagement Officer
Pongaroa Station restoration project
Shane Mildenhall, Arthur Bowen, Edward Hammond and Nic Caviale gathered today along the Whangawehi stream to talk about the new fence that will be built in January as part of the Whangawehi Catchment restoration programme.
The cultural report drafted by Mana Cracknel was used in order to identify and protect Wahi Tapu sites.
A big thank you to Shane for embracing our vision and to Arthur and Edward for sharing their knowledge of the area.
Nga Whenua Rahui Audit
The Taharoa /Grandy Lake Forest project was audited yesterday by Ranui Toatoa, fund manager from Nga Whenua Rahui.
Ranui was happy to see most of the trees looking healthy (98% survival rate so far) and release sprayed. NWR assisted the group in 2014 by offering a large number of native plants (8000) and by funding our community based water monitoring programme. We hope NWR is happy with the work done by the community and wish that further partnerships will take place in
the future.
Nga mihi nui Ranui
Small scale pest control project on Taharoa Grandy Lake Forest
On monday the 1st of December, Rod Dickson from HBRC came to Whangawehi to advice Pat and Sue O’Brien (Taharoa Trust) and Graham Douglas from Grandy Lake Forest on how to best protect the newly retired area along the Whangawehi stream. Both landowners were looking for options on how to best protect the bird life which is already coming back to the site. Rod Dickson gave a few traps (DOC 200) to get this group started. Monthly reports and kills will be collected for long term monitoring. The DOC 200s target Weasels, Stoats, Rats and Hedgehogs.Thank you to HBRC for getting these willing land owners started.
Whangawehi Catchment Management Group 