Volunteer Events

Beach Clean-up: Bremner Bay

Day: Thursday, 24th September
Registration: 3:25pm
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Location: Bremner Bay (look for the WAI flags)

What to bring:

– Gloves 
– Weather appropriate clothes 
– Sturdy footwear 
– Friends, co-workers and whānau 

Come along to our Bremner Bay clean-up and help keep Lake Wānaka’s lakeshore clean and healthy.

Together, we’ll remove litter from the beach and surrounding areas while gathering valuable data through citizen science.

Rubbish collected will be sorted and recorded as part of Sustainable Coastlines’ Litter Intelligence programme.

All welcome. Tamariki / children must be accompanied by an adult.

Microplastic Lab

Day: Wednesday, 14th October
Time: 2pm-3pm
Location: WAI Office, 185 Riverbank Road, Wānaka

Join us at WAI HQ for a hands-on microplastics lab session.

Discover our A Teeny Tiny Truth project and learn how our citizen science programme is helping us better understand microplastic pollution in local waterways.

During the session, you’ll have the chance to examine real microplastic samples under microscopes, explore the differences between fibres and fragments, and learn how scientists identify and classify them.

No experience is needed, just curiosity and an interest in learning more about microplastics and using microscopes.

Spaces are limited, so be sure to secure your spot by registering here.

Beach Clean-up: Wānaka Lakefront

Day: Thursday, 22nd October
Registration: 9:55am
Time: 10am-11:30am
Location: Wānaka Lakefront (look for the WAI flags)

What to bring: 

– Gloves 
– Weather appropriate clothes 
– Sturdy footwear 
– Friends, co-workers and whānau 

Join us for a beach clean-up event at the Wānaka Lakefront.

A great way to get involved in citizen science as well as protecting Lake Wānaka.

Rubbish will be sorted and recorded in the national Litter Intelligence database by Sustainable Coastlines.

All welcome. Tamariki / children must be accompanied by an adult.

Out on the Roto
Visual Clarity Monitoring

Day: Get in touch
Time: 5pm
Location: Waterfall Creek

What to bring: 

– Water bottle
– Warm clothes

Join the team as we head out onto the lake with our secchi disks!

We want our community to be educated and aware of what’s happening in our lakes. By rallying together and gathering data, we’ll strengthen our sense of place and grab the attention of researchers who can help us out. The more data we have, the better we can protect one of our most precious resources.

If you’d like to come along, please email getinvolved@waiwanaka.nz

Photo Monitoring at the Boardwalk

Day: Any day, we aim for one photo per month
Time: Daylight hours
Location: On the grassy knoll just before the Te Ara Wānaka boardwalk

The WAI Wānaka Community Timelapse (originally a Fluker Post) is located next to the Te Ara Wānaka Boardwalk (past the Dinosaur Park).

WAI Wānaka facilitated the installation of the first ever Fluker Post in Aotearoa!

The Community Timelapse is a physical wooden post that acts as a photo-point, installed at a strategic location in the environment. There is no camera left on the post. Instead, people walking past use their phone to take a photo of the given scene, scan the QR code to navigate to the Community Timelapse page and upload the image they’ve just captured.

Upload your photo using this form and begin your journey as a citizen scientist.