Wetlands of New Zealand facts for kids
New Zealand has several notable wetlands but 90% of wetland areas have been lost following European settlement.
Definition
The Resource Management Act 1991, the major Act of Parliament determining land use, defines wetlands as "permanently or intermittently wet areas, shallow water, and land water margins that support a natural ecosystem of plants and animals that area adapted to wet conditions.". The Convention, an international conservation agreement for wetlands to which New Zealand signed up to in 1971, has a wider definition of wetland.
Wetlands in New Zealand
The Department of Conservation is the New Zealand agency which administers the Ramsar Convention. Ramsar sites in New Zealand as of 2019 are the following:
- Farewell Spit
- Firth of Thames
- Kopuatai Peat Dome
- Manawatu river mouth and estuary
- Waituna Wetlands Scientific Reserve
- Whangamarino Wetland
These make up a total area around 56 600 hectares. Other notable wetlands are Ahukawakawa Swamp, Aramoana, the Kepler Mire, Kai Iwi Lakes, the Sinclair Wetlands, and Te Henga, as well as areas around the lower reaches of the Waikato River.
Conservation
In the past 150 years New Zealand has lost about 90% of its wetland areas due to draining for farming. Many remaining wetlands are also degraded due to pollution, grazing, drainage and presence of invasive plants.
In recent decades there have been efforts made towards wetland conservation. The Rakatu Wetlands in the South Island that are an ecological restoration project set up address the environmental effects of the construction of the Manapouri Power Station. Travis Wetland is a restoration project covering 116 ha of land formerly drained and used as a dairy farm. It is in an urban area of Christchurch.
