New red zone wetland to become haven for wildlife

Wednesday, 5 March 2025

The Avon River and some red zone wetlands immediately west of the Pages Rd bridge on New Brighton Rd, right.

A newly created wetland in Christchurch’s red zone will become a rich environment for native plants and animals.

Christchurch City Council’s residential red zone manager Dave Little said the newly opened 2ha tidal wetland at Waitaki St in the Ōtākaro Avon red zoned area would allow the river to flow into low-lying areas that were previously cut off.

It would result in the restoration of some of the river’s natural floodplain function accommodating tidal movement and floodwaters and reducing pressure on the main river channel, he said.

The council has removed pilings to allow the Avon River to flow into a wetland area at high tide.

“It will also create habitat for native fish and bird species, with this ‘intertidal zone’ being a particularly rich environment for native plants and animals,” he said.

He said the river water in this area was quite salty so the wetland had been left to re-establish native vegetation naturally, as opposed to being planted.

“This is the council’s standard approach to re-establishing saline habitats, as it results in a more resilient ecosystem and is cheaper to establish.”

It was the first wetland to be opened to the river in the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor, with the second - under construction at Avon Park - expected to open around the middle of the year.

“Over time, we’re expecting to open around 10 of these to the river, ranging in size from around 2ha to around 60ha.”

The Avon River is separated from red zone wetlands by a metal divider immediately west of the Pages Rd bridge on New Brighton Rd.

Red zone advocate Ashley Campbell, who founded Greening the Red Zone, said the new wetland would become a wildlife reserve.

The new stop bank was now further back from the river and the council had removed the sheet metal pilings holding the river back west of Pages Rd Bridge.

She said it was wonderful to see the water flowing into that area at high tide and believed the stop bank would create safe nesting sites for birds.

“I’m quite excited because it is the first project of this kind in the red zone that’s now complete and it’s the first instance of this kind of ecological restoration immediately close to the river,” she said.

“It’s really exciting after all this time to see this sort of progress.”