Environment Committee 12 December 2018

Report No. 18-227 Information Only - No Decision Required

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

1. PURPOSE 1.1. The purpose of this item is to provide members of Council’s Environment Committee with an Environmental Education progress report for the period from 1 October 2018 – 31 December 2018. 1.2. For the purpose of this report, both the ‘Educator’ and the ‘Regional Coordinator’ refer to the Horizons Regional Council (Horizons) Environmental Educator. .5FTE of the role is regional coordination of the Enviroschools Programme, with the remaining .5FTE of the role delivering Horizons Environmental Education programmes.

2. RECOMMENDATION That the Committee recommends that Council: a. receives the information contained in Report No. 18-227 and Annex.

3. FINANCIAL IMPACT 3.1. There is no financial impact associated with recommendations in this paper.

4. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 4.1. This is a public item and therefore Council may deem this sufficient to inform the public.

5. SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS RISK IMPACT 5.1. There is no significant business risk associated with recommendations in this paper.

6. ANNUAL PLAN TARGETS

Reporting Period YTD Measure Target % 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Actual Number of Enviroschools 47 48 48 47 102 Waiora sessions conducted 4 7 11 32 34 Community engagements 13 14 27 31 87

6.1. The measure for Waiora sessions conducted includes only sessions run by Mrs Williams. Sessions conducted using Horizons’ kits without Mrs Williams are not included. 6.2. The measure for community engagements does not include Waiora sessions. This measure tracks all other events and activities that fall within Environmental Education. If a school has multiple classes completing set activities then these are counted as individual; sessions.

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Environment Committee 12 December 2018 7. ENVIROSCHOOLS DATA 8. In addition to the official Enviroschools, there are 35 school/centres on the Friends of Enviroschools list in the Region. The Friends list allows schools/centres to try out the programme to see how it fits within their own context before taking the next step to become an official Enviroschool. We also use this list to determine who will be our next Enviroschools when funding becomes available. 9. ACTIVITY REPORT – WAIORA 9.1. Mrs Williams conducted the following Waiora sessions: four sessions with Parkland School on the Manawatū River at Ruamahunga Park; one session with a Palmerston North church group on the Pohangina River at Totara Reserve. 9.2. Two Waiora studies are also planned for mid-December with Moawhango School. One will be on the Moawhango River at Moawhango and the other on the Rangitīkei River at Mangaweka. These are included in the annual plan targets. 10. ACTIVITY REPORT – ENVIROSCHOOLS 10.1. Mrs Williams attended the three day Enviroschools National Early Childhood Education (ECE) hui in Auckland from 9 – 11 September. 10.2. Mrs Williams was part of the interview panel for selecting a new Enviroschools Facilitator for the Ruahine Kindergarten Association. 10.3. Mrs Williams held an unpacking workshop for Westmere School. 10.4. New Enviroschools: Freyberg High School. 10.5. Mrs Williams was part of the sharing and decision making team for the Bronze holistic reflection at Feilding Kindergarten. It was great to see other early childhood centres and parents attending as part of this process and supporting Feilding Kindergarten on their special day. 10.6. Linking community organisations with Enviroschools is part of the kaupapa of the programme so Mrs Williams met with volunteers from Plant to Plate to learn more about the programme and see how we can work together. Many of our Enviroschools use Plant to Plate’s programmes so connecting with them will help both parties to achieve their goals.

11. ACTIVITY REPORT – OTHER 11.1. Mrs Williams ran some water quality activities for the Rangitāne o Manawatū emerging leaders FUSION camp. Rangitahi who attended the camp planned the activities they wanted to do for the week, with the first day being a hikoi and korero about Turitea Stream. PNCC organised the day which began with a tour of the water treatment plant at Turitea Dam followed by discussions about the Green Corridors project and biodiversity in the area. Paul Horton lead the group through the cultural importance of the stream and the area. 11.2. Enviroscapes is a catchment model which is used to teach types of point and non-point source pollution and its effects on streams and rivers. Although we have had this model for a number of years, Mrs Williams recently refurbished the kit and began using it with schools. Four classes from Parkland School completed the Enviroscapes activity which is an introduction to where pollution can come from and how it can get into our waterways and as a precursor to undertaking a Waiora stream study which they subsequently did a week later. 11.3. Mrs Williams together with Biodiversity Advisor, Ruth Fleeson, ran a native tree identification activity for three classes at Dannevirke South School. The school has extensive grounds and wanted help to connect their students to the biodiversity right on their doorstep. This was the third activity that Mrs Williams had done with the school with sessions on water quality, invertebrates and birds completed earlier in the year.

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Environment Committee 12 December 2018 11.4. As a following up to last terms discussions with Kumeroa School on water quality and native fish, Mrs Williams met with students twice this term to do some practical activities around these topics. The students from the ‘water testing’ group have borrowed a Waiora kit for the term to do weekly testing on the Awapikopiko Stream which is part of the Manawatū River catchment. Mrs Williams gave the students some training in collecting the data. On another occasion, Mrs Williams assisted Mike Patterson, Senior Scientist, to run a practical native fish activity where the students checked the fish traps set the previous day and saw a demonstration of electrofishing and how we use these methods to monitor our native fish. 11.5. Mrs Williams together with the Science team have judged the Manawatū Science and Technology Fair (MSTF) for a number of years. This year we have expanded our reach to include judging at other science fairs throughout the region. Mrs Williams and Mike Patterson judged at the Dannevirke Regional Science Fair which was held at Dannevirke High School on 25 October. In common with our prizes offered at the MSTF, we offered four students the opportunity to join our Internship Day, together with the six already offered to attend from the MSTF. 11.6. Nine of the ten science fair prize winners attended the Internship Day on Friday 23 November. Mrs Williams together with Erin Bocker, Research Associate (Ecology), organised a day to showcase the science we do and our role in managing freshwater and terrestrial environments. Students went to Totara Reserve and looked at the variety of biotic and abiotic data we collect to measure the state of our rivers. This was led by Research Associates, Ariane Blackwood and Jasmine Robb, who ran activities on native fish, macroinvertebrates and assessing algal cover, including an electrofishing demonstration. While Senior Research Associate, Emma Prouse, showed the students the Smarttroll technology and how we use information on temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen to help us build a picture of our river health. In the afternoon, Dr Elizabeth Daly, Research Associate (Ecology) and Aaron Madden, Biodiversity Coordinator, talked about our role in managing privately owned native bush remnants and wetlands. Students completed some basic native tree identification, looked at pest animal tracks and talked about invasive weeds and their effect on our native bush habitats. 11.7. Mrs Williams attended the Manawatū River Festival and provided an activity for families to look at the macroinvertebrates that live in the river. This was well received. 11.8. Mrs Williams met with the enviro-group at Westmere School to talk about mammal skulls and how they can help us work out what food the animal eats and how they find their food. The students have set rat traps in their school grounds and have been catching quite a few animal pests. 11.9. Mrs Williams will be attending the opening of Enviroschool South Makirikiri School’s fitness track on 7 December. They received a Community Grant to pay for native plantings which are now complete.

12. The following activities were also undertaken in this reporting period however are not counted as community engagements in the table under Section 6. 12.1. Mrs Williams met the new educator at Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery Centre to learn about their education resources and programmes and see how we can add value. 12.2. As part of her ongoing professional development, Mrs Williams attended a native fish training session with members of the Freshwater and Science teams. 12.3. Mrs Williams is a member of the Big 5 Sustainability group and recently presented to Council on helping the organisation to become more sustainable. 12.4. Mrs Williams ran a training course for members of the Freshwater team and a representative of Rangitāne o Tamaki nui a Rua in using the Waiora stream study kits. The attendees were running activities for Huia Range School that Mrs Williams was unable to attend herself due to commitments with another school.

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Environment Committee 12 December 2018 13. SIGNIFICANCE 13.1. This is not a significant decision according to the Council’s Policy on Significance and Engagement.

Parkland School – Waiora, Mawawatū River Kumeroa School – native fish activities

Manawatū River Festival Native Plant Identification – Dannevirke South School

Students at the Internship Day Students at the Internship Day

Sarah Williams ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

Chrissie Morrison MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

ANNEXES

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