Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust

The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust provides an umbrella organisation for marine and freshwater conservation projects around New Zealand. One of these is Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR).

The aim of EMR is to raise awareness, understanding and involvement in marine conservation through provision of dynamic experiential environmental education opportunities.

In short we get students & community groups out of the classroom and into the ocean!

We teach students about marine biodiversity in the classroom, snorkelling lessons in the pool and then into the ocean. First at a local beach which isn't protected and then into a marine reserve like Goat Island or Tawharanui.

EMR has guided snorkel experiences in marine reserves around New Zealand involving 27,834 students, with 38,064 volunteer hours contributed. The wider community is reached via 300 printed media articles and over 14,889 people have been engaged in EMR organised marine conservation events, taking our total engagement to 49,432 New Zealanders.

EMR empowers schools and communities by providing the equipment and expertise for a hands-on learning experience in the ocean. The programme involves investigating marine biodiversity and local marine environments before venturing to a fully-protected marine reserve. After this experience, students are able to compare unprotected and protected areas and are supported to put their knowledge into action within the community.