Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust

Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust Freshwater and marine education, restoration, and conservation initiatives.

A big thanks to those who came along to our Taitamariki Snorkel Skills session in Kaitaia 🤿 This event was led by our ow...
05/10/2026

A big thanks to those who came along to our Taitamariki Snorkel Skills session in Kaitaia 🤿

This event was led by our own taitamariki cadet, and made for taitamariki/young people aged 5-24 who wanted to practice their snorkeling skills with our team to guide them along. Alongside building key skills to stay safe and build confidence in water, we practiced fish identification and rewarded ourselves with a BBQ afterwards.

Shout out to our cadet Jahrelle for taking on her first leadership role in an event and smashing it! Ngā mihi to Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa - Sport Northland for funding this event, and to all those who participated, and to those who expressed interest in volunteering with our Northland marine team. Thanks for hosting us Te Hiku Sports Hub.

If you live in Northland and are also interested in becoming a volunteer, we’d love to hear from you - check out our website.

Important question for your Monday
04/10/2026

Important question for your Monday

A massive shout out to the supporters who answered our call for donations in June. These koha enabled us to fund a numbe...
30/09/2026

A massive shout out to the supporters who answered our call for donations in June. These koha enabled us to fund a number of programmes in Northland and Auckland, and some community events this summer (more on those in due course if you donated!).

The first programme you helped us fund was a full Whitebait Connection programme with the tamariki at Maunu School 💧

Students completed a full learning journey, beginning with in‑class theory sessions exploring our freshwater environments, the species that live within them, and the pressures they face. We then took this learning into the field to study two streams within the Whangārei Harbour catchment.

The first was Te Hihi Stream, a cool and shady spot by forest, but with multiple weirs and perched culverts that impact fish migration. As a result, only kōura and tuna were found along this stretch.

Our second site was Waiarohia Stream, where we found clear signs of erosion and urban pollution. Because we were below the weirs, students found panoko/torrentfish, common smelt, tuna, and bullies.

The students were able to compare the two sites and identify quick, achievable actions to help restore the Waiarohia — planting more native trees where erosion was evident and carrying out rubbish clean‑ups. We can’t wait to see what environmental actions Maunu students take next!

Caption this!We found this unusual piece of litter while at an īnanga spawning survey.
29/09/2026

Caption this!

We found this unusual piece of litter while at an īnanga spawning survey.

Awesome mahi that we were pleased to support!
28/09/2026

Awesome mahi that we were pleased to support!

Shout out to and for joining us to learn more about freshwater monitoring!Over two days, we focused on Community Based...
27/09/2026

Shout out to and for joining us to learn more about freshwater monitoring!

Over two days, we focused on Community Based Freshwater Monitoring (CBFM) methods, especially using Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kits (SHMAK), practicing how to use each monitoring tool at their local stream at Glendhu Reserve.

Highlights of the workshop include finding stony-cased caddisflies in the stream, and getting lots of hands-on practice to feel more confident in using the tools. We had a great time sharing the joy of freshwater mahi with the teams!

🐌 “The training was amazing - I learnt a lot more about our freshwater species and how to test many different water quality indicators.”
🐟 “Amazing, fantastic, so incredibly useful!!”
💧 “I loved getting into the stream!”
🪱 “Both facilitators Anastasia and Kate are incredibly knowledgeable and able to communicate scientific concepts to simple understandable terms. They were easy to learn from and very engaging.”
🦞 “Too much to write down!”

Ngā mihi nui to the Upper Harbour Local Board, Auckland for funding our combined marine and freshwater education program...
24/09/2026

Ngā mihi nui to the Upper Harbour Local Board, Auckland for funding our combined marine and freshwater education programme in eight schools this 2025-26 season! Here’s a recap of the actions these legendary students achieved:

🌱 Westminster Christian School: Year 6 students joined the amazing team at Hōnonga a Iwi - Restoring Rosedale Park, weeding and mulching the native plants that have been planted at Alexandra Stream.

🪱 Albany Senior High School, NZ: Year 11, 12 and 13 student's action projects included ongoing weeding and restoration with Pest Free Kaipātiki, a survey of potential kororā/blue penguin habitat with Forest & Bird, and artistic displays for advocacy and awareness.

🌼 Scott Point School: Year 6 and 7 students went to restore Nimrod Inlet with a native tree planting day, thanks to the awesome folks from their local community conservation group, Habitat Hobsonville!

🐌 Hobsonville Point Primary School: Year 6 and 7 students worked to help reverse sedimentation with a planting day at Nimrod Inlet alongside Habitat Hobsonville and Scott Point School.

🪲 Ōteha Valley School: In partnership with Upper Waitematā Ecology Network, Year 1 students painted predator trap boxes to help volunteer trappers locate traps, contributing their own creativity to a meaningful conservation project.

✨ Timatanga Community School: A mix of Year 1-8 students created clay models of freshwater and marine species to be added into a school environmental diorama and shared at a school Matariki dinner.

💧 Hobsonville Point Secondary School: Year 10 and 11 students joined us as part of their Give Back to the Community project. We visited Te Onekiritea Park for a litter clean-up and audit, discussing key issues affecting their local area.

🍃 Ridgeview School: With support from the Upper Waitematā Ecology Network, Year 1-6 students were provided with seven trap boxes to paint and personalise.

24/09/2026

Stop scrolling and and look at some chill critters 🐌🐛🪲🦟🪱

These little guys are both chill AND educational: they are the storytellers of our streams. Each tuaiwi-kore (invertebrate) that lives in Aotearoa’s streams has a certain tolerance for pollution, sedimentation or other damaging effects to streams, and that can tell us a whole lot about stream health. For example some, like freshwater snails and flatworms, can tolerate a lot of damage before they disappear. Others are much more sensitive and rely on healthy water, including mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies. So if you see those creatures in your stream, congratulations, you have healthy water!

Some of the reo Māori names in this video may be regional or contextual. If you know of a better or alternative translation for any of these bugs, please let us know in the comments!

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