Environment > Wai Wetlands Conference

WAI WETLANDS?

The 2008 Wetland Symposium was titled Wai Wetlands?” and was held for the first time in the South Island, with the inaugural symposium in Wellington 2004, followed by Hamilton 2006. Christchurch this time hosted the 3 day event, with more than 140 people attending. The event was a joint venture between the National Wetland Trust, NIWA, University of Canterbury, Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, Ngai Tahu, Department of Conservation, Landcare Research, Fish & Game, the University of Waikato,  Meridian Energy, Waihora Ellesmere Trust and Banrock Station Wines &  Wetland Care New Zealand.

The opening addresses (Rik Tau, Tuahuriri, Karen Denyer, Chair of the National Wetland Trust and Bryan Jenkins, CEO of Environment Canterbury) drew the participants together and created a foundation for the symposium outlining the national and regional state of wetlands and the urgent need for continued action to prevent further wetland decline. Bev Clarkson, wetland ecologist (Landcare Research) delivered the keynote address highlighting some positive wetland creation initiatives in the Waikato. 

Two concurrent sessions over two days covered a broad range of topics: wetland state/ecology; local restoration initiatives; wetland management and creation, and restoration and wetland guide development. The content was as diverse as the presenters – a mixed group of university students, Crown Research Institute scientists, Department of Conservation staff, NGO staff, community members, ecological consultants and Regional Council staff.  Afternoons centred on practical activities – touring the large scale Travis Wetlands and learning about approaches to environmental education; training with the Wetland Monitoring Handbook. Practical identification sessions took place at the university – more than 70 people attended ain intense hour long session by Paul Champion and Kerry Bodmin (both NIWA) to learn about the distinguishing features separating rushes from grasses and sedges. A similar amount of people attended a workshop on wetland invertebrate identification, a first for most participants as Alistair Suren (NIWA) pointed out, invertebrates are often the forgotten components of wetland ecosystems. Afternoon soap box sessions were expertly facilitated by Neil Deans (Fish and Game) and were designed to give participants an opportunity to raise questions and seek answers from other symposium participants. 

A roaring southerly coincided with the field trips to Te Waihora / Ellesmere lagoon with a small group focussing on the ecology of (but unable to reach the intended destination of Kaitorete spit due to some un-navigable puddles en route) and a larger group focussing on community initiatives in the catchment. Despite the inclement weather, the day was highly informative for both groups, if not a character building experience!. 

A summary of conclusions from the Christchurch symposium compiled by Neil Deans and Rhys Barrier (both Fish and Game).

1. Lowland wetlands need to be managed, requiring ongoing actions which generally require consents from regional councils under the RMA.

2. The RMA has proven to impede wetland protection and enhancement in many areas due to this need for consents, though without necessarily providing protection for wetlands from those seeking to adversely affect them. This is due to some Councils being unwilling or unable to follow up with enforcement. Methods such as the proposed Wetland Management Agreement in the Bay of Plenty look like an appropriate tool to assist landowners to undertake wetland protection, enhancement and maintenance with a minimum of bureaucracy. The Ministry for the Environment could promote such methods around regions for their use and implementation if wetlands are to be protected, particularly by private landowners.

3. Wetlands may be enhanced or protected for a variety of reasons and thus protect them for a range of sustainable uses and benefits to the landowner and the wider community.  Community initiatives in wetland protection are increasing, but need support.

4. Funding support for advisory services in wetland management needs to be ongoing; short term funding will only achieve limited results as wetlands need long term management. There is plenty of community support but it needs direction and technical advice. Without ongoing base level support many initiatives can fail or wither (the Taieri Trust (Otago) is struggling after 5 years of funding and Whaingaroa harbour Care (Raglan), despite its success over the last decade, has just had a funding cut. Most Department of Conservation funded biodiversity advisory services have a maximum 3 year funding limit.

5. The demise of the Envirofunz website which listed all available funding options has not been good for community wetland initiatives. The replacement for this (“FundView”) is either only available by subscription or can be viewed online though only from selected hosts (e.g. libraries and trusts). This is a further hindrance to already under-resourced community groups. Perhaps consideration should be given by the Ministry for the Environment for reinstating open and free web-based access to this service.

6. There is a wide variety in the extent of support for wetland protection in different parts of the community. Larger population centres have more resources available. Some larger Councils offer many services to assist the community in wetland and other resource management work; others provide little or no assistance or may even hinder wetland protection initiatives.

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