It's time to kick off our monthly Thursday night meetings again! Join us this Thursday 13 February, 5.30-6.30pm. This month we'll be doing 5-minute bird counts at Frasers Gully. Details at https://akv.nz/events

Would you like an opportunity to be part of a team that checks traps on reserves in Kaikorai Valley? Benefits include helping the native ecosystem to regrow, getting fresh air and exercise, improving your physical and mental health, and being a part of an exciting new volunteer community! This trapline would be suitable for beginners. The terrain is flat and the traps are easily accessible. We're looking for a commitment of one hour per month. We're running a training session this Thursday 30 January, 5.30-6.30pm, meeting at Townleys Road. For details and to RSVP, see here: https://akv.nz/events/townleys-road-trapline-training If you're interested in being a part of the mission, but can't make the session, please contact connect@akv.nz

Exciting times! We're about to learn a lot more about what's living in Kaikorai Valley! We teamed up with some experts (Janice Huang and Andrew Innes) on Wednesday to collect water samples from the Kaikorai Stream. We're looking for environmental DNA (eDNA). This is the tiny traces of genetic material of living creatures that is left behind in waterways. The water samples will go to a lab, where they'll be able to find the genetic code of the living things have passed through the stream. We can't wait to see the list and to share it with you!

To the native wildlife of Kaikorai Valley, better things are coming your way! A small group of us learnt to use victor rat traps on Sunday. The result of this will be fewer introduced predators in your home, and a much healthier ecosystem overall. We promise to look out for our wee patch of the environment this year. To the humans of Kaikorai Valley, keep an eye on future environment-enhancing AKV events here: https://akv.nz/events

We have an AKV session on Sunday to learn how to use victor rat traps. Using these traps will make it a great start to 2025 for our native wildlife! Further details here: https://akv.nz/events/victor-rat-trap-training

It's been a while since we checked our traps! Let us know if you want to be involved in regular trap checking this year. We'd love to have you on board. Contact connect@akv.nz or have a chat with Paul or Beth at our free training session on Sunday https://akv.nz/events

Thanks to everyone who's been involved in AKV this year! We're going to take a break now over the Christmas and New Year period. See you next year for more community building, wildlife enhancing, environment improving FUN! Have a safe and happy break everyone 💙

Meet Janice Huang. Janice works as the catchment advisor for Dunedin and the Coast Freshwater Management Unit. She's motivated to work with communities, catchment groups and landowners who are working towards positive water quality outcomes. She's been involved with AKV this year, by attending AKV’s meetings and school education workshops. "AKV is one of the many amazing groups promoting the health of the Kaikorai catchment through pest control, stream health and stormwater awareness in an urban space. They play an important role in bringing local communities together. I am excited to support their work where possible. Seeing firsthand how passionate the AKV folks are, has been truly inspiring. They are an amazing group of people. I really enjoy learning from the community about Kaikorai Stream. It’s great to understand what people care about and are passionate about, and to learn about creative solutions." Thank you Janice for your contributions and support. We look forward to working together in 2025!