Crucial role performed by wetlands
As the upper North Island was being battered by torrential rain and challenged with floods a day to mark the importance of wetlands was marked.
Northland’s unique and diverse wetlands – important for flood prevention – were to be celebrated on World Wetlands Day on Thursday, February 2.
Amy Macdonald, who chairs the Northland Regional Council’s Natural Resources Working Party, says World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on February 2 to raise global awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet.
She says in the past, many people didn’t recognise the true value of wetlands and as a result nearly all of them had been converted to pasture or urban use.
‘‘Wetlands are important because they help prevent flooding and improve water quality, as well as providing the necessary habitat for a number of unique species of plants and animals, many of which are rare.’’
Macdonald says wetlands essentially act as giant sponges, helping to soak up water and boost water quality.
‘‘The plants in them slow the flow of water off the land so that, in times of flood, more can be absorbed into the soil and taken up by the plant life. In summer, stored water is slowly released from wetlands, maintaining water flows.’’
Macdonald says regular national mapping of land cover indicates almost 5400 hectares of freshwater wetland vegetation and almost 140 hectares of saline wetland vegetation was destroyed through human actions in New Zealand between 1996 and 2018.
More than 90% of that had been converted to grassland for grazing.
Along with Southland, Waikato and West Coast, Northland was one of the regions that had experienced the largest losses of freshwater over that period, with the region losing an estimated 495ha of wetland to developed land. (In comparison, the Southland area lost an estimated 2713ha over the same period.)
Macdonald says the news was not all bad for Northland, which also saw an estimated 80ha of freshwater and saline wetland gained in formerly developed land between 1996 and 2018. Work was currently under way to ascertain the total amount of wetland in Northland.
Macdonald says the regional council is keen to work with Northlanders to protect and restore wetlands and says it has a number of resources, including its Environment Fund, available to help.
‘‘Council works with communities all over the region contributing towards fencing stock out of wetlands and/or planting riparian margins.’’