Wetlands important for everyone's future

25 January 2016

Sustainability is the central theme for this year’s globally recognised World Wetlands Day, which will be marked in Taranaki on Sunday (31 January) with a public field trip at Lake Rotokare.

The theme highlights the vital role of wetlands for the future of humanity, say the international organisers of World Wetlands Day.

The venue for Sunday’s Taranaki field trip, Lake Rotokare, is one of the region’s best-known wetlands, the scene of a dedicated, long-term community-driven effort that has resulted in impressive and award-winning conservation and environmental gains.

Elsewhere in the region, the vital role of wetlands on pastoral land is a strong emphasis for the Taranaki Regional Council in its work with landowners.

The Council’s Director-Operations, Stephen Hall, says wetland protection is seen as a natural extension of the long-running and successful riparian management programme, under which thousands of kilometres of streambank on the ring plain are being fenced and protected with millions of native plants.

“We’re telling farmers why it’s a really good idea to fence any wetlands on their property as part of their riparian management work,” he says. “It’s important to remember that wetlands are a valuable asset in terms of farm management, as well as environmentally.”

He says 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.”

As well as keeping river systems healthy and consistent, wetlands offer other bonuses:

• They mitigate the effects of overland flow by removing nitrates and intercepting phosphates in runoff sediment.

• They are rich ecosystems that support a diversity of plant, animal and bird life.

• They provide recreational value and can add landscape appeal to a farm.

• Wetlands also function as carbon sinks.

The Taranaki Regional Council promotes wetland protection through education, advice and information. This includes advice on fencing, planting and covenanting to protect wetlands.

Sunday’s field trip runs from 10am to 1pm at Lake Rotokare, which is signposted from Eltham. It will include presentations from agencies and groups involved in wetland protection in Taranaki, and hands-on sessions on lakeshore and swamp forest environments, monitoring techniques and wetland enhancement, led by Prof Bruce Clarkson and wetland ecologist Dr Bev Clarkson. Bring water, a picnic lunch, sunblock, hat and good walking shoes.

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