Tidal Discoveries

is a school led estuary, stream and dune monitoring program focusing in and around Tauranga Harbour, Bay of Plenty. The aim of this program is for school aged children to build up a picture of the health of their estuary or stream or dune system. Through by gathering data and analysis, they realise key knowledge on biodiversity, pest species, habitat changes and report their findings to local scientists and stakeholders. Over time, the condition of their natural environments is recorded and managed. The program is run exclusively through Discovery Through Nature with funding from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Community Initiatives Fund. The program began in 2015 and now in 2020, Tidal Discoveries works with 12 schools.

Each term students and teachers head out to the estuary, stream or dune area and record all the animals and plants they see there.  They monitor biodiversity, track indicator species, record physical environmental parameters, monitor for pest species, collect rubbish and plant native species. They work with scientifically robust methods and often get very muddy, wet and sandy! The school groups then assess their data to look for patterns and track changes.  

For school aged children and parents participating in this program, the benefits are:

·       Having fun outside the classroom and away from school in a natural space

·       Experiencing an ongoing connection to their local environment rather than a one-off day trip

·       Enhancing learning and giving school children and their parents ownership of their local area and knowledge on what is happening there 

·       The empowerment of sharing their knowledge and exchanging information with scientists, councilors and other community members on experiences and changes about their local environment

·       Feeling the satisfaction of contributing to a bigger project that may benefit the whole community through the knowledge gained and information collected.

The project supports teachers and parents to connect with their environment and to learn at the same pace as their younger counterparts. With new knowledge and spending time regularly in their own natural spaces, the whole community can become effective guardians of the key habitats in the Bay of Plenty.