National Wetland Trust opens walkway and pontoon at Lake Rotopiko open wetland to public

Sunday, 20 December 2020

Barney Manaia, Ngāti Apakura, and Don Scarlet, from the National Wetlands Trust, standing on Pōito, the new pontoon at Lake Rotopiko.

Don Scarlet’s dream of seeing Kiwi kids step out of the virtual world and into the real world of science and nature is coming to life at Lake Rotopiko.

Scarlet is the chairman of the National Wetland Trust which officially opened its extensive lake walking circuit and floating pontoon, named “Pōito”, south of Hamilton.

“What we’re doing here is enabling Kiwis to get back into wetlands,” Scarlet told Stuff.

“I think academically, you understand the importance of wetlands but it’s not until you come into a wetland and experience the quietness, the uniqueness of a place like this, that you really connect with it.

Manaia and Scarlet hope the lake’s restoration will encourage more Kiwis to visit the wetland.

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“When I reflect back to my time when I was a young boy, there were no PlayStations, no digital devices … we would spend hours at the creek, learning about nature and ultimately about science.”

Lake Rotopiko, also known as Serpentine Lakes, is next to State Highway 3, near Ōhaupō, between Hamilton and Te Awamutu.

Don Scarlet and Waipā Mayor Jim Mylchreest helped officially open the lake’s new walking circuit and pontoon.

It is one of 16 significant peat lakes in the Waipā district and is now surrounded by a 3km predator-proof fence.

The new pontoon and lake circuit walkway cost about $200,000, supported by funders, the Lottery Grants Board, Waipā District Council, WEL Energy Trust, Trust Waikato, Stout Trust and Waikato Forest and Bird.

It was the latest initiative for the National Wetlands Trust, which kicked off a community-led restoration project for the lake in 2011, with the blessing of local hapū, Ngāti Apakura.

From left are Jane Wheeler from the Department of Conservation; Stephen Cox, Rotary Te Awamutu; Karen Denyer, from the New Zealand Wetlands Trust; Don Scarlett, also from the trust and Waipā Mayor Jim Mylchreest.

The hapū was again part of the blessing ceremony for the walkway and pontoon when supporters and volunteers met at the lake on a hot Wednesday afternoon this month.

Barney Manaia, representing Ngāti Apakura, said he wanted to recognise the many volunteer hours put into restoring the lake over the years.

He picked up on earlier comments made by Waipā Mayor Jim Mylchreest, that many of the lakes had been drained to make way for fertile farming land.

“Since then, we have been able to put in some valuable resources to reset nature, and that’s around getting that balance back.

“This has been seen as farming, dairying land and so returning the lake to an indigenous setting and identity is special.”

Manaia, inspired by the lake and its environment, said it would “give inroads into korero” about native birds, native trees and te reo Māori for generations to come.

The lake would bring out the “indigenous flavour” of Waikato and its restoration would continue to connect all those who volunteered their time or who came to visit and be educated by its environment.

Manaia again referred to Mylchreest’s speech earlier on, when he remembered an excess of kahikatea trees from the council which were planted at the lake in the late 1980s, by workers on the Public Employment Programmes, or PEP scheme.

“My brother would have been one of the workers, so I am sure he would be happy to see the lake today.

“It brings forward another level of respect for the lake and its restoration.”

Manaia said the lake's forest environment provided educational and healing opportunities for people, especially rangatahi.

“Just getting them to listen to the sounds around here, identifying those sounds, understanding what these trees are capable of, the quietness, the calming effect, the healing.

“We want people to visit these places, have a picnic, do something that’s not electronic, just to increase the conversations as a family, and as people.

“I think there is something important in that.”

The new walkway and pontoon was blessed by Waipā District Council’s iwi liaison adviser Shane Te Ruki with Ngāti Apakura representatives Manaia, Hazel Wander and Bill Harris.

Te Ruki named the pontoon 'pōito' referring to the row of floats that hold a fishing net, all working together to hold up the nets and ensure a successful outcome.

The National Wetlands Trust’s next project will be with Hamilton Fish and Game, to build a bird hide at one end of the lake.

The trust also had aspirational plans for a forest and lake view tower, an ethnobotany trail, and to convert a shipping container into a classroom and volunteer hub.