Wetlands report

Press, 27 April 1984, Page 13

Wetlands report

A major report which urges the Government to ratify a Wetlands policy for New Zealand has been produced by National Water and Soil Conservation Organisation for the Environmental Council. It also urges the Government to direct that an inventory of Wetlands be compiled through an appropriate organisation — as a matter of urgency. Wetlands contained in this inventory should be classified, ranked, and evaluated, as against the various values they contain from an international, national, regional, and local point of view, the report said. Wetlands should also be identified which do not contain values worthy of preservation, but have value for development. The Government ought to be conscious of the growing public interest and concern with the importance of wetlands and try, through having a ratified policy, and through its relevant departments and other organisations, to achieve the goals and objectives of that policy, the report said. The Government should set up a small wetlands co-ordinating committee to have a watching brief and an active co-ordinating role in implementing policy, the national inventory, and the future management of those wetlands still left. The report urges the Government to recognise and support the buying of appropriate wetlands as reserves, and to use covenants and private reserves on private land. New Zealand’s wetland resources had been and continue to be depleted, the report says. This depletion is certainly more evident in some regions and in some types of wetland than others. But loss of wetlands would lead to the loss of unique habitats and species adapted to those habitats, as well as loss of hydrological values and of scenic diversity. The report says that the over-all management of wetland resources is “sporadic, diverse, and uncoordinated.”