They say the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.
For Council’s Team Leader Land and Water Peter Hamill and Freshwater Ecosystems Scientist India Hamill the analogy ‘the elver doesn’t swim far from the eel’ might be more appropriate.
The father and daughter have just collaborated with Te Hoiere Project Programme Manager Rachel Russell to reproduce ‘A field guide to Marlborough’s Freshwater Flora and Fauna’, more than 20 years since Mr Hamill first created it.
The 134-page field guide was funded through the Ministry for the Environment’s At Risk Catchment Fund. It features descriptions and photographs of dozens of species that call Marlborough’s freshwater environments home, including some newly identified and others with name changes.
A launch function at Lansdowne Hub earlier this week was attended by Mayor Nadine Taylor, iwi, councillors, Department of Conservation, Marlborough Forest and Bird, Top of the South Wood Council, representatives from Marlborough Boys’ College and Queen Charlotte College and members of the community.
Mayor Taylor said the day was not only a celebration of a new publication but also of freshwater environments and the people who care for them.
“I encourage everyone to take a copy, explore our local waterways, share what you learn with others and continue to be champions for the health and wellbeing of our freshwater ecosystems.
“They support a remarkable diversity of plants, fish, insects and other wildlife, while also providing places for recreation, connection and learning. Yet many of the species that live in our streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes often go unnoticed.
“When people can identify the plants growing along a streambank, recognise the native fish living beneath the water's surface, or understand the role aquatic insects play in a healthy ecosystem, they develop a stronger connection to the natural world around them,” Mayor Taylor said.
Mr Hamill said the idea for the original field guide came in the early 2000s as a result of an education programme run by Council taking young people into the outdoors.
“This coincided with the advent of digital photography. I started taking lots of photos of little critters - that was the genesis of the field guide and it’s now been handed down to the next generation,” he said.
India Hamill said she was seven when the guide was first written and now, as a Freshwater Ecosystems Scientist for Council, she had a much greater appreciation of its usefulness.
“I hope for the next 20 years people can enjoy an updated version of the field guide and be able to look at a stream, lake or river and know what freshwater species they are seeing,” she said.
Copies of A field guide to Marlborough’s Freshwater Flora and Fauna are now available at no cost at Council’s Customer Service Centre in Blenheim.
