Field trip highlights wetlands effort

26 January 2015

A Taranaki couple’s award-winning efforts to preserve and enhance native biodiversity on their hillcountry bush block will be highlighted at a public field day on Sunday (1 February) to mark World Wetlands Day.

The field day venue is the property of David and Marie Russell at Toro Road, Purangi, which contains a regionally significant wetland and rich indigenous biodiversity within its 250 hectares.

Since purchasing the property on their retirement, the Russells have poured time, sweat and money into predator control, fencing and planting. Most of the block is protected with a QEII National Trust covenant and is recognised as a Key Native Ecosystem by the Taranaki Regional Council, which has worked with the Russells to implement a Conservation Plan and Biodiversity Plan.

The Russells’ efforts earned them a Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Award in 2013. To view a video profile made at the time of this award, go to tinyurl.com/ToroRoad.

Wetlands in any setting – be it a bush block like that of the Russells, or a ring plain dairy farm – are a major focus for the Council in its work with landowners.

“Wetlands are a valuable asset, not only environmentally but also in farm management terms,” says the Council’s Land Services Manager, Don Shearman.

“Wetlands store water during rainfall, helping to reduce flood levels. And in dry periods, they release water to help maintain farm supplies. And when wetlands are protected with fences, this also prevents stock losses.

“The days of regarding swamps as just another bit of unproductive wasteland are well and truly over. They are the ‘kidneys of the land’ and in intensively farmed areas, they are often the most important ecosystems for biodiversity.”

Sunday’s field trip starts at 10am, and will include presentations by the Russells, Taranaki Regional Council, Fish and Game, QEII National Trust, New Plymouth District Council, Department of Conservation, Taranaki Tree Trust, and Taranaki Biodiversity Forum.

The property is at the end of Toro Road – turn right off Tarata Road 27 km from Inglewood. Bring good shoes, hat, sunblock, water, snacks and lunch. There will be a sausage sizzle.

tinyurl.com/ToroRoad

ENDS

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