On Monday, May 27th, Diane Strugnell and the team from Mountains to Sea Wellington (MTSW) hosted an exciting evening, revealing fascinating eDNA results from the streams within the Pāuatahanui catchment. Diane, our local community superstar, has been making waves with her awesome efforts on her farm and within the community.
Last year, Diane was granted funding for 6 eDNA test kits from Wilderlab. So, she set out with the help of MTSW to collect some eDNA and report back to her community with the results. After showing off some results at last years Lamb and Calf Day, Diane was encouraged to broaden the reach and audience of these findings in an effort to create a collective of like-minded individuals that live in the area to help make some changes within their local awa and ultimately help the fish and critter life that lives within!
We saw an awesome turn-out from the community, attracting a crowd of enthusiastic locals and curious neighbors from nearby catchments. It was great to see our friends from Porirua City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council join us too! Also, shout-out to Craig from Judgeford Golf Club Flighty’s Cafe for hosting us and keeping us warm!
We started off with getting people to identify areas of importance to them within the Pāuatahanui Catchment, we also outlined the 6 eDNA sample sites that Diane and the MTSW crew collected from to help the group visualise the eDNA findings in relation to their areas within the catchment. Diane shared her kōrero and results from collecting the eDNA samples, sharing the exciting variety of native fish and macroinvertebrate species that came through in the eDNA results. A major driver of Diane’s testing was to determine fish presence within the catchment and to further understand why they were present in some areas but not others.
We also had some macroinvertebrate samples on display for the community to see what hides within their streams! Not only are these little crawlers good fun to look at, they are great markers for stream health and are a food source for many of the fish that were present within the eDNA results.
Throughout the night a lot of awesome kōrero from the community was shared, with many keen on further eDNA sampling and water quality monitoring within their local streams. There was a lot of interest in investigating fish passage barriers within the catchment and how the community can go about remediation. It was a great night of connecting the community with one another and sharing how they can connect with their awa, posing a fantastic reminder of the power of community in environmental conservation and restoration.
If you want to learn more about the amazing world of eDNA and fish passage barriers head to our Story Map and Wilderlab for more information!
