Science Centres: Aquatic Biodiversity and Biosecurity

NIWA is helping teachers spread the lessons learnt from our biodiversity work with children at Makaurau Marae, Ihumātao, Manukau.

When the Mangere sewage treatment ponds were built in the 1960s, the marae’s traditional kai moana reef disappeared under a dense covering of Pacific oysters and mud because there was less water circulation past the reef. After the oxidation pond walls were removed in 2003, the reef slowly began to clear.

Kaumātua of the marae wanted to teach a younger generation about the reef, so NIWA and Auckland University of Technology’s Earth & Oceanic Systems (EOS) got involved in a number of activities, including a field trip for local children.

With TEAM Solutions and EOS, we are preparing a workshop for the N.Z. Association of Environmental Educators to show teachers how to translate the project into a curriculum item, and we are producing a poster for use in schools.