Developing a citizen science monitoring programme for Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and catchment: Review of citizen science methodologies for monitoring freshwater and marine environments Technical Report
- Author
- Valois, A.
- Year
- 2020
- Publisher / Organisation
- NIWEA
- Pages
- 21
- Summary
- Prepared for Porirua City Council Community care groups and catchment groups play a significant role in restoring and rehabilitating Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and catchment. However, there is considerable scope for the community to take a more active role in environmental monitoring, including assessing the impact of their restoration efforts. This report reviews current citizen science programmes and monitoring methods, both in New Zealand and worldwide, that could inform the future development of a citizen science programme for Te Awarua-o-Porirua catchment. Many of the environmental indicators currently monitored in Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour catchment would be suitable for volunteers to monitor, with well-established methods available in other citizen science programmes. For some indicators, further research and method development will be necessary, while for others (e.g., heavy metals) direct measurements are not possible. There is an opportunity for a citizen science monitoring programme to include indicators that are often overlooked or not monitored regularly as well as to co-design novel indicators. There are four different ways volunteers can contribute to growing the current pool of knowledge of the health of the Harbour and catchment and ensure restoration efforts are having a positive impact. These include contributing to existing monitoring networks, targeting species and ecological processes not otherwise monitored, contributing to the development of new indicators, and evaluating ecological and water quality restoration efforts.