Experiencing Marine Reserves “Drains to Harbour” 

The Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) programme empowers schools and communities by providing hands-on experiences in the environment. After these experiences, students are encouraged to put their knowledge into action within the community.

The EMR “Drains to Harbour” (DTH) campaign was successfully piloted in the winter of 2006 and has now been running in Whangarei for 5 years, thanks to support from the Whangarei District Council and Transfield (formerly McBreen Jenkins).  EMR is committed to continuing to provide this programme to schools in the Whangarei District during Terms 2 and 3.

The DTH programme involves a classroom introduction to stormwater pollution sources and effects, a field trip to a local stream to investigate water quality, an opportunity for students to use the DTH stencils to spray-paint the DTH message near stormwater drains in the surrounding community, and associated classroom student activities (1.36 MB) and teacher information resource booklet (4.29 MB).

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The Experiencing Marine Reserves ‘Drains-to-Harbour’ campaign offers

• Free posters, brochures and relevant information for your school to keep.
• Free stormwater pollution presentation (led by EMR educator, using PowerPoint, video and sound
• Free coordination/organisation of field trips to local stream and drain stencilling sites.
• Free curriculum and safety management planning with teachers involved.
• Free coordination of volunteers to assist on field trips. A maximum of 1 class (or 30 students) per school can participate in coordinated field trips to local streams at one time. A maximum of 6 students per school can participate in the drain labelling exercise. All students can participate in a ‘chalk art’ activity within the school grounds and help to spread the DTH message.

The ‘Experiencing Marine Reserves’ DTH campaign is a professional stormwater pollution awareness campaign coordinated in Northland by Samara Nicholas (National EMR programme coordinator and Director, Whangarei Young Person of the Year, Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader recipient, Bachelor of Applied Science), Kim Jones (Environmental Management and Conservation Diploma, Certificate in Business Administration and Computing) and Nicki Wakefield (Ngapuhi, Ngai Tahu, Te Arawa, Bachelor of Science). We are committed to the care and safety of all who we associate with.

To register your school’s interest and arrange initial meeting, please contact Kim Jones by email kim@emr.org.nz or phone  09 434 0779  09 434 0779  or  027 243 4818  027 243 4818. Experiencing Marine Reserves’ DTH campaign is currently supported by The Whangarei District Council (WDC) and the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust.