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Collaborating with Wai Connection to protect our waterways

Volunteer journalist Shaleen Singh-Ark talked to Mountains to Sea Catchments Co-ordinator Amy Sadler about the restoration’s involvement in a programme that is helping restore local waterways.


For almost a year, Amy Sadler has been one of the many co-ordinators involved in delivering the Wai Connection project in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The project aims to increase the capability and capacity of community groups to support awa health.


The team from Te Hononga a Iwi is working alongside Mountains to Sea and the Oteha Stream volunteering community on this multifaceted project that promotes technical, social, and environmental education for communities to connect with, and restore, their local waterways. It’s a hands-on experience that gets participants to observe aquatic lifecycles, study environmental DNA (eDNA) dispersed from local wildlife, identify threats, pose solutions, and much more.

Amy’s primary motive to contribute was being part of earlier Te Hononga a Iwi projects that tracked water quality. “It’s the most memorable experience for me. There was a low DO (dissolved oxygen) result in the Autumn season at Alexandra Stream. Thankfully, our ammonia kit came back negative for sewage leaks. But after that event, it drove me to continue ensuring that our awa are healthy for our future.”


Since then, Amy has been assigned the official role of Auckland Wai Connection Catchment Co-ordinator within the project. As a Catchment Co-ordinator, Amy has been able to co-organise and deliver a wide range of hands-on and engaging experiences for the local community. She has done this through Mountains to Sea’s Whitebait Connection and Experiencing Marine Reserves programmes, as well as many other immersive educational and restoration-based activities.


These have included stream spotlighting events, waterway clean-ups, water quality monitoring training, school education programmes and more.

Wai Connection is a national project funded by the Ministry for the Environment's Essential Freshwater Fund and delivered by Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust. Auckland is one of 12 regions currently delivering the project, which had funding approved in 2023 after the development of a series of Regional Needs Assessments.


Briar Broad, the Auckland Regional Co-ordinator for Wai Connection, says that this funding has been vital in enabling the Auckland Mountains to Sea team to offer tailored support to community groups. Mountains to Sea works with these groups to engage with and restore their local waterways, as well as increase wider community engagement through their Whitebait Connection (freshwater) and Experiencing Marine Reserves (marine) programmes.


Both of these programmes share experiences, scientific knowledge, and practical skills to inspire conservation, encouraging local community groups to take action for their local waterways.

Oteha Stream was selected as one of ten catchments to support across the Tāmaki Makarau Auckland region as part of the Regional Needs Assessment. A tailored package of support was developed, highlighting opportunities to expand on the well-established Our Local Streams project funded by Upper Habour Local Board. The packed also allowed Mountains to Sea to support the amazing mahi being undertaken by Te Hōnonga a Iwi and Upper Waitemata Ecology Network (also known as UWEN).


Funding for this project will continue through to June 2025, however, the Trust are looking for opportunities to extend this support with your help. Any interest or support is appreciated by the Mountains to Sea and Te Hononga a Iwi team to ensure projects such as Wai Connection establish long lasting effects for the future.


For enquiries about the Wai Connection project, contact Amy Sadler or Briar Broad 

 

 

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