By Paul Melville, Federated Farmers Principal Advisor Water and Environment Strategy For the last two years many farmers have appealed what they view as unworkable freshwater regulations. The chief culprits have been rules requiring resource consents for planting a winter forage crop, rules that make paddocks of weeds so-called protected wetlands, and rules that require […]
wetlands
Updated guide, workshops help with wetlands identification
Regional councils now have another tool in their kit to help identify natural wetlands, thanks to research shared by NIWA’s freshwater ecology specialist Paul Champion. Mr Champion led two, two-day workshops in March, showing regional council staff how to identify characteristics of rushes, sedges and grasses, the dominant vegetation of wetlands in New Zealand. Wetland […]
Horizons Regional Council to lead partnership in constructing wetland for Lake Horowhenua restoration
Horizons Regional Council have reached a major milestone in the path to restoring Lake Horowhenua by securing a land package to construct a nationally significant wetland complex. Governance Group Chair for the project and Horizons’ Chair Rachel Keedwell says the land package was purchased for $6.75m, with $5.6m of that coming from central government’s Jobs […]
Wairarapa farmer nurtures marginal farmland into a wetland
Greater Wellington is backing a Carterton farmer’s vision to regenerate marginal farmland into a flourishing wetland through environmental programmes that support native biodiversity and healthy waterways. Wetlands work hard for our people, land and wildlife. Today, only two per cent of Greater Wellington’s wetlands are estimated to remain, many of which are in a degraded […]
Wairarapa farmers leading the way with wetland restoration
A partnership of Wairarapa farmers is a part of a growing wetland restoration movement to build community resilience against flooding, drought, landslides and water pollution. Since 2016 the partnership has been proactively fencing off stock, planting native plants and trapping pest animals to restore wetlands and surrounding areas on Hapua farm. However, restoration work began over a decade ago. The Hapua […]