Pupils help restore wetlands
It’s been estimated that about 90 per cent of wetlands have been drained and only occupy about 2 per cent of New Zealand’s land area.
Once covering large areas of the Waikato, they’re now some of our at-risk ecosystems. Why should we care? Well, they are clever at filtering and transforming contaminants lost from the land that could harm our river. Nitrogen and phosphorous get into the waterways through leaching and surface run off - getting rid of 90 per cent of nitrates from groundwater through denitrification.
Microbes living in wetlands absorb and break down nitrogen, which increases water quality.
Over the past few years, wetlands have been restored by a handful of farmers in the area.
Recently, Hora Hora School was invited to the Williams family, organic dairy farm on Maungatautari Road, in the Waikato.
Under the guiding eye of Enviroschools’ Robyn Irving, the students helped plant the last native trees for a wetland project that saw 5ha of marginal land restored last August.
‘‘It’s a whole school and community approach to learning and action for sustainability,’’ says Irving.
The kids pitched in with spades and got their hands dirty getting kahikatea, ribbonwood, mingimingi cabbage trees and flax into the ground.
A tag was secured to each tree with the student’s name, so they can keep a keen eye on their growth.
Douglas Chubb, Hora Hora School Alumni remembers plant- ing trees along the river.
‘‘It’s really cool to see them 15 years later.’’
Bird boxes were also decorated by the students and attached to established trees in the area.
In just over a year the wetlands’ rank grass and pampas, willow and gorse have almost been overtaken by a diverse, blanket of native flora.
There’s no refuting that restor- ing our native wetlands in the Waikato is good for the environment and the local community, but financially it can be challenging.
Funding is available through The Waikato River Authority every year and can be a gateway to getting our wetlands back to what they do best.
Gina Williams is from the Williams Family Farm, Hora Hora.