Surveys show that nearly 90 percent of the people think the environment
is an important issue. Most of us would like to help our oceans
or our streams recover. We also enjoy outings and social activities.
Many groups of people are participating in a new social, outdoor
activity that has some real value to our world - Community Science.
Participating in environmental science projects can be an exciting
detective game - it takes you to interesting places and introduces
you to a host of creatures that share our planet with us. In a
way, it is getting to know the rest of the characters in the neighbourhood;
including birds, nymphs, starfish, prawns, and cockles.
Getting to know your plant and animal neighbours can be a real
eye-opener. First comes the discovery of our own links to the
natural world, then comes the daunting realisation of how our
daily actions can disturb - even kill - our delicate and tiny
neighbours.
Beaches are important places for recreation and tourism. They
are kept neat and tidy by a host of little creatures that work
day and night cleaning up the sand and the dying algae and creatures
that wash ashore from time to time. Without their help, our shores
might not have that clean ocean smell. Streams, lakes and wetlands
provide homes for plants and animals that keep the water clean
and sweet for drinking. We use their water for homes, industries
and farms, and our lakes and rivers are places of recreation and
educational enjoyment. Yet water is easily polluted.
What the world needs now are people who take notice of their larger,
natural community and then take action to make these communities
flourish. And strangely enough this is happening. Community groups
have been forming in many parts of New Zealand to help look after
beaches, waterways and wetlands and to keep an eye on local water
quality.
Through their commitment and hard work, community beach care and
water monitoring groups have proven that concerned, well trained
volunteers can make significant contributions to the health of
our environment.
Environmental monitoring and improvement projects are most successful
when they involve a wide range of interested parties right from
the start. The end goal is to gain VALUABLE information about
the beaches or waterways that others will want to use in a community
effort to maintain these in good health. The value of the measurements
is not necessarily in their accuracy, the amount of data, or the
frequency of sampling. Value is found is people's willingness
to use the information and share in a common effort to improve
conditions.
Years of experience has shown that "expert" environmental
monitoring never manages to generate quite enough data to make
informed decisions. The data may be highly accurate in some localities,
but is rarely of enough public or political interest to incite
changes in public behaviour. In essence, expert studies are generally
unknown to the public and have little impact on their daily lives.
Community based monitoring generates large amounts of data from
a wide area and lots of people in the local community know about
the study and what it means. The study itself becomes a discovery
of how the daily lives of everyone in the community impacts the
waterways and coastal areas. If many different parts of the community
are represented in the planning and monitoring phases, finding
ways to improve the environment will be much easier.
