What we’re up to

What an awesome project with an awesome outcome for the Canterbury Mudfish (most threatened of New Zealand's mudfish species), a great example of collaboration! https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=495309197870994

We had some special guests at the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre today, our Living Water team got a chance to talk with the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister Eugenie Sage MP about what Living Water is doing in the area to help the shorebirds and what we are doing to improve water quality on both Fonterra farms and Department of Conservation land that will one day be scaled up and used in other catchments around the country.

This is one of our greatest mysteries, NIWA freshwater ecologists are hoping to get the answers by tagging female eels in the Waikato River. Listen 👇 https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018695044/mystery-of-the-longfin-eel-s-breeding-ground

How well can our small native fish in different velocities? Understanding what water speed different species of fish are capable of coping with will help with the fish-friendly design of structures to ensure the fish can move upstream and downstream at different stages of their lives. Have a listen👇 https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2018701228/freshwater-fish-swim-for-science

There's more to clean waterways than the ability to swim in them. All the creatures living in our waterways have an important part to play in their ecosystem. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/113030981/tiny-creatures-doing-big-work-in-rivers-and-streams-are-threatened-by-climate-change

#FieldDayFriday and we're throwing it back to Fieldays where some of our Living Water team were on site to talk about freshwater both on and off farms. Department of Conservation and Fonterra, are custodians of nearly 40 percent of New Zealand’s land, and we both have a responsibility to look after our land and water for future generations so we're working on solutions to see freshwater and farming thriving together.

A few of our team have been lucky enough to spot Bittern in our Ararira and Waikato Peat Lakes sites. Small Waikato town Ohaupo fell so in love ❤️ with it's precious wetland birds that they adopted the peat lakes as their town identity, erecting signs and painting murals of the wetland birds, including the bittern to highlight and celebrate them. Read the heartwarming story 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/our-progress/im:1432/ohaupo-celebrates-precious-wetland-birds

Our focus is finding game-changing solutions that will enable farming, freshwater and healthy ecosystems to thrive side-by-side. We are working with farmers, scientists, councils, mana whenua and communities to design and test solutions, and then develop a plan to implement regionally and nationally. Find out more at www.livingwater.net.nz Watch 👇 https://youtu.be/KIUqULMXi7g

Did you catch the Country Calendar about Gay and Ron Munro's farm in the Waituna Catchment? Conscious of the fact their land drains into the internationally significant Waituna Lagoon they're working hard to protect the wetlands on their land, with a third in it's natural state. Watch it here: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/country-calendar/2019-s-country-calendar-stories/episode-15

Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date with what we're up to across our 5 catchments: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/what-were-up-to/

It's #FieldDayFriday our North Island Manager, Tim Brandenburg is out on location with Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre filming a cool joint project we are working on. Stay tuned for the video coming soon!

👀 Watch the video of our Waituna Creek Restoration project and fish survey. We're surveying the fish to see if the habitat restoration has worked to bring the fish back to Waituna Creek 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/our-progress/im:1432/waituna-creek-fish-survey/

👀 Watch the video of our Waituna Creek Restoration project and fish survey. We're surveying the fish to see if the habitat restoration has worked to bring the fish back to Waituna Creek 👇 https://www.livingwater.net.nz/our-progress/im:1432/waituna-creek-fish-survey/

Dairy farming is central to New Zealand’s economy, but how we are farming is having an impact on our lowland freshwater ecosystems. This is why the partnership between the Department of Conservation and Fonterra was formed. Watch The Living Water team and our partners talk about why they love doing what they do. https://youtu.be/tgkp1xB0jk4

What are detention bunds? And when should they be used? Here's Fonterra Sustainable Dairying Manager, Matt Highway to talk us through them. 👀 WATCH 👇 https://youtu.be/gweJ0DwWeVM

Today marks the beginning of volunteer week. Living Water is thankful to all the community members that volunteer their time to help us, from things like pest trapping, planting, monitoring endangered species and weed control. All done in the volunteer's own time and sometimes in not the nicest of weather conditions. If you're interested in volunteering, check out Department of Conservation's page for opportunities in your area 👇 https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/volunteer/in-your-region/