On a mission to protect Taranaki's urban wetlands and their wildlife

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

Roy Weaver chairperson for Wild for Taranaki wants to educate people on how to protect the regions wetlands.

When finishing your house renovations this summer be careful where you wash your paint brushes as it could be affecting our urban wetlands.

That's the message from wildlife body Wild for Taranaki, which looks after the saturated marshy lands that are a haven for different types of wildlife.

Pukekura Park, one of New Plymouth's wetlands.

'A lot of people clean their brushes by outside drains, which ends up in the wetlands, whereas if you wash them in the sink that goes into the sewers,' Roy Weaver, New Plymouth District councillor and Wild for Taranaki chairperson, said.

He suggested if people made small modifications to everyday actions it could help to maintain and protect wetlands and waterways.

The lake at Pukekura Park is one of New Plymouth's seven key wetlands.

This included washing the car on the lawn to stop the water entering the drains, or using eco-friendly products.

Taranaki's key urban wetlands include Barretts Lagoon, Pukekura Park, Waipu Lagoon, Settling Ponds, Ahukawakawa Swamp, Tarns, and Lake Mangamahoe.

How to look after and protect them will be addressed on Saturday at World Urban Wetlands Day, which runs from 10am-12pm at Puke Ariki in New Plymouth.

'Wetlands are the kidneys of the city and we've got an opportunity to protect and enhance our wetlands in Taranaki,' Weaver said.

Kirstin Foley, operations manager for Wild for Taranaki, added: 'It's all about little changes making a huge difference.

'Wetlands are really important for natural water storage as they can hold water like a sponge to store it when we've got wet weather and when we've got hot weather they release it slowly.'

The need to protect our wetlands is more important now than ever because of the harsh drought the country has experienced, she added.

Due to more people moving in to the city creating the demand for more land, urban wetlands are being drained to make space.

'Less than 10 per cent of our wetlands remain in Taranaki.'

The Department of Conservation reports that due to the loss of wetlands there are significantly fewer eels in our waters today.

The wildlife population is also affected by people discarding unwanted fish into waterways, which then compete with the native fish for food.

'To protect our native species we've actually got to look at what we're putting in our waterways,' Foley said.