On the 2d of September Hon D Smith, Environment Minister came to Mahia to celebrate the work done by the Whangawehi Catchment Management Group. If you want to learn more about his visit please follow the link.MinisteratWhangawehi.
Little Blue Penguin
At School on Wednesday, our day started off by watching a short clip about the Blue Penguin population numbers on Banks Peninsula being restored. The people living on the peninsula had completed extensive trapping for predators and built burrows for the penguins to breed in. Malcolm Smith then told us lots of facts and information about the Blue Penguin, where they live, what they eat, and what makes them different from other penguins. From here we rehearsed the ‘Penguin Song.’
After morning tea we split into three groups; burrow construction, arts and crafts, penguin science and research. During the morning all of the children had completed all 3 workshops. Many thanks to Whaea Jenni Scothern and Matua Arthur who came to support our tamariki during the day. It is always amazing, the resources and energy people bring to Te Mahia School and the engagement and motivation our tamariki show. There will be a display in town in the Hammer Hardware front window of all of todays learning. Do watch out for it!
On the 8th of August, Te Mahia school students built 12 nesting boxes for the smallest Penguin in the world. The Little Blue Penguin used to breed in the Whangawehi estuary until the 60s. Te Mahia students intend to do their best to try bring back the noisy but emblematic bird. In September, the nesting boxes will be installed along the Whangawehi stream amongst a growing forest of flaxes and native trees. A netting will protect the sites from dogs and traps will be laid in order to keep predators at bay.
A big thank you to the community for their commitment and patience during the building phase, a few adults’ thumbs came quite close to the hammers handled by the younger ones!
On the 18th of July, Department of Conservation Associate-Minister Nicky Wagner and Conservation board members came to Mahia to attend a presentation of the Whangawehi Catchment Management Group.The aim of the Hui was to give Ms Wagner and the Conservation Board something to take away with them and potentially recreate similar model for other parts of the country.
The WCMG felt priviledged to host this event and thanks Ms Wagner and the Conservation board for the effort they made in coming to Mahia.
Wairoa Star article :Associate minister visits WhangawehiJuly2015
Te Mahia students gathered in early July for a weaving and carving workshop. This workshop was run by the local community that supports the school programme. This year a new activity was offered and all the students enjoyed shaping clay. The next workshop will take place on the 8th of August, the theme will be building an artificial burrow for blue Penguins. Thank you to all the locals who got involved.
Help us save the Whangawehi stream
The Whangawehi Catchment Management Group (https://whangawehi.com/) needs your help with the restoration of the Whangawehi stream, on the beautiful Mahia Peninsula on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zeland. As you know, this Awa is vitally important to our community – culturally, physically and spiritually. Our vision is to improve water quality, restore biodiversity and engage with our local school to forge the next generation of Gardians / Kaitiaki. Our community has already come together and made fantastic progress with 4.5 km of fencing and 16 000 trees established last winter. Now we need your help for this winter’s planting programme. We are crowd funding for the plants for two restoration projects on two farms : Taharoa/Grandy Lake Forest and Pongaroa Station. Our campaign finishes on 31st of August so we have only 2 months to reach our ambitious targets.
If you want to be part of our journey, check us out and donate at http://millionmetres.org.nz/donate/ We would also be grateful if you could share this email with anyone who you think could help.
Thank you
Whakatauki
Ka tangi te titi When the seabird suffers
Ka tangi te kaka When the landbird suffers
Ka tangi ko koe, Then you will suffer
Ka tangi ko au Then I will suffer
Aidez nous a proteger la riviere Whangawehi
La Communaute de Whangawehi (https://whangawehi.com/), petite bourgade de pecheurs eleveurs a forte composante Maori, a entrepris, il y a 2 ans la restoration de leur bassin versant situe sur la cote est de l’ile du Nord en Nouvelle Zelande. Cette communaute a pour ambition la protection d’une riviere sacree pour les tribus Maoris impliquees dans cette initiative. Le projet implique egalement le development d’un programme educatif scolaire destine a transmettre le savoir traditionnel lie a la gestion de l’environnement. Le groupe a déjà etabli 16 000 arbres natifs sur les berges de la riviere Whangawehi. Nous avons besoin de votre support pour poursuivre notre effort sur deux proprietes Taharoa/Grandy lake et Pongaroa.
Si vous souhaitez prendre part a notre ambitieux project et faire une donation, suivez le lien suivant et selectionez la ferme de votre choix : http://millionmetres.org.nz/donate/
Grand merci pour votre aide.
Ayuda por la protección de nuestro río sagrado
La Comunidad de Whangawehi (https://whangawehi.com/) es un pequeño pueblo de pescadores criadores que tiene un fuerte componente maorí. Hace dos años comenzó la restauración de su cuenca, la cual se encuentra en la costa este de la Isla
Norte en Nueva Zelanda. Esta comunidad tiene como objetivo la protección de un río sagrado por las tribus maoríes que participan en esta iniciativa. El proyecto también incluye el desarrollo de un programa educativo escolar destinado a transmitir el conocimiento tradicional relative a la gestión del medio ambiente. El grupo ya ha plantado 16.000 árboles nativos en las orillas del río Whangawehi. Necesitamos tu apoyo para continuar nuestro esfuerzo en dos propiedades : Taharoa Grandy lago / y Pongaroa.Si quieres participar en nuestro ambicioso proyecto y hacer una donación, siga el siguiente enlace http://millionmetres.org.nz/donate/ y selecciona la granja de tu elección.
Gracias por tu ayuda.
Kia ora koutou,
Please find attached a newspaper article from the Wairoa Star covering our Planting weekend. Thank you all for your help.
Nga mihi nui
The Whangawehi community organised a community planting week end on Pongaroa Station last Saturday and Sunday. Volunteers planted in a day and a half 4500 native trees. The dinner and night at the Marae were a great opportunity to get to know each other better and tighten the link between locals, bach owners and volunteers coming from as far as France! A big thank you to Shane (Farm Manager), the Whangawehi community, Marae and volunteers for their help and support. We are looking forward to seeing you again next year.
The Whangawehi Catchment management Group was privildeged to be selected as a Finalist at the Green Ribbon Award on Thursday night in Wellington. The group has made it to the Finals for the second time in a row but didn’t win the Award in the “Caring for our water”. The winner was Dr Bruno David with his CarpN Neutral project in the Waikato region.
The supreme winner was Project Janszoon in Abel Tasman National Park. The project supports research into new predator control methods and work closely with schools and the community. Well done.
Hi All,
The weather forecast planned for this weekend has forced us to cancel the planting day at Pat’s (tomorrow).
We invite all volunteers and tree enthusiasts on the 13th and 14th of June on Pongaroa Station.
Please RSVP with Rae Te Nahu 068375537 or rae.tenahu@xtra.co.nz.
For any inquiries, feel free to contact Nic Caviale on 068388527, 0272645460 or caviale@hbrc.govt.nz
Our apologies.
Kind regards
Nic
Whangawehi Catchment Management Group 