OUR MAHI
Explore our projects and programmes here at WAI Wānaka
Our team is on the ground, working with local individuals, catchment groups, farmers, councils, businesses, community groups and schools to improve ecosystem health, reverse biodiversity loss and keep our water healthy.
If you know the project you’re looking for, you can use the quick links below, to jump straight to the page. If not, scroll down and read the summaries about each project to find out what we do.
COMMUNITY ACTION
EDUCATION / SCHOOLS
RESEARCH AND MONITORING
RURAL COLLABORATION
COMPLETED PROJECTS
COMMUNITY ACTION
Adopt a Drain
Our ‘Adopt a Drain’ project is a way for you and your whānau to get involved in reducing stormwater pollution in your neighbourhood, and therefore our waterways.
A Teeny Tiny Truth / Microplastics Research
A research project exploring microplastics in Lake Wānaka alongside PhD student Veronica Rotman and volunteers of the community.
Urban Catchment Project
The aim of the urban catchment project is to improve the health of urban freshwater in the Upper Clutha through education and community-led action. Here you will learn more about localised action groups.
Citizen Science/ Volunteer Programme
Volunteers are the backbone of WAI Wānaka. Our volunteer programme aims to provide opportunities for our community to get involved in accelerating community action for fresh water.
Our Place
A group of community organisations have come together to create interactive events that aim to show how land, water, flora, fauna, climate and humans are all connected.
EDUCATION / SCHOOLS
WAI Wānaka Education Programme
Our education and outreach programmes are building a passionate community of water advocates with the skills and knowledge to be the current and future voices for healthy water.
Drains are Streams
Drains are Streams takes tamariki on a journey around Wānaka, learning about our stormwater networks, why polluted stormwater causes problems for our lakes and rivers, and building connections to local aquatic species.
DID YOU KNOW? Whatever goes down our storm drains flows untreated into our lakes and rivers?
Embracing Te Taiao – On the Farm
An education programme that connects the classroom with environmental issues and solutions on farms throughout the Upper Clutha.
Internships
We are thrilled to be able to provide science-led internship placements for tertiary students.
This summer we are lucky enough to have not one, not two, but three amazing interns working at WAI. Stay tuned for updates on their journey to accelerate local action for our freshwater.
RESEARCH AND MONITORING
Community Catchment Plan
The Community Catchment Plan is our shared roadmap to improve and maintain the long-term health of Upper Clutha’s freshwater. It identifies risks to the health of our waterways, gaps in our understanding and 60 actions we need to take in order to mitigate the effects of human activity on our freshwater.
Biodiversity Strategy
What might native biodiversity look like in the Upper Clutha Catchment in 100 years? The Upper Clutha Biodiversity Strategy focuses on restoring and enhancing native biodiversity within our catchment.
Catchment Health Monitoring
This is a community-led initiative to monitor the long-term impact of community efforts and guide environmental investment in the future.
Biodiversity & Freshwater Monitoring
Biodiversity and freshwater monitoring helps landowners and local community understand their surrounding natural environment and the state of the health of their local ecosystems.
RURAL COLLABORATION
On-Farm Environmental Support
Through this programme, WAI Wānaka has funding available to support landowners to achieve their environmental goals.
Embracing Te Taiao – On the Farm
An education programme that connects the classroom with environmental issues and solutions on farms throughout the Upper Clutha.
Catchment Groups
The many environmental demands on rural landowners and farmers are more easily understood and tackled as a group. WAI Wānaka are supporting and facilitating the establishment of rural catchment groups in the Upper Clutha.
COMPLETED PROJECTS
Wānaka Water Project
The Wānaka Water Project was WAI Wānaka’s first big project. Its aim was to improve the understanding of the risks to our waterways and identify the actions needed to manage them. A project designed by the community for the community, supported by a range of generous funders.
Jobs for Nature |
Mahi mō Te Taiao
Funded by the nationwide Jobs for Nature programme through the Ministry for Primary Industries, WAI Wānaka’s field team carried out environmental activities on farms. Check out the great work the team did, including some fantastic videos.
Knowledge into Action for Te Taiao
A National Science Challenge Project that connected leading scientists, researchers, community and local farmers to develop an understanding of land-use and land management options that enhance Te Taiao – the natural world.
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
This project measured the impact of the Wānaka lakefront development on biodiversity, water quality and community values against its goals:
1) ‘Restore and develop ecology through ecological enhancements’.
2) ‘Improve land use within the lakefront’.
