Wetlands vital for environment

The vital role of wetlands will be highlighted during a public field day on Sunday ( February 12) at what’s regarded as an ecological gem on New Plymouth’s doorstep.

The World Wetlands Day event will run from 10am to 1pm at Waipu Lagoons near Hickford Park in Bell Block. It has been organised by a number of agencies and organisations involved in wetlands protection and restoration, including the Taranaki Regional Council.

The council works closely with landowners to protect and enhance wetlands, particularly on the Taranaki ring plain and coastal terraces. Land Services Manager Don Shearman notes that this year’s World Wetland’s Day theme is ‘wetlands for disaster risk reduction’.

‘‘Healthy wetlands help to mitigate extreme weather events – it’s one of the reasons they’re a valuable asset not only in terms of the environment, but also in terms of farm management,’’ he said. Wetlands store water during rainfall, helping to reduce flood levels, and in dry periods they release water to help maintain river flows farm water supplies. Protecting wetlands with fences also reduces stock losses.

Shearman says wetland protection is a natural extension of the long-running and successful riparian management programme, under which thousands of kilometres of stream banks on the ring plain are being fenced and protected with millions of native plants. ’’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.’’

The Waipu Lagoons have been ranked among the top 20 wetlands in Taranaki. Plants in the wetland include flax, raupo¯ and kutakuta. Birdlife includes the pu¯ weto, or spotless crake, and the threatened matuku, or Australasian bittern. Those attending Sunday’s event will hear recordings of the calls of these birds, and find out about flax harvesting and weaving. There will also be presentations by agencies and groups involved in wetland protection in the region, and a sausage sizzle. Be at the Hickford Park car park at the end of Smeaton Rd, Bell Block, by 10am.