Wetlands are are important for many reasons – they have cultural importance for Māori and for other groups, they support a diverse range of flora and fauna, they help to remove excess nutrients and sediments and absorb floodwaters, they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and they are a valuable source of food for many. Over the last 150 years many wetlands have been drained for urban settlement and agriculture.

Have you ever wondered how extensive the wetlands were around Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere in pre-human times?

Wetland extent – both historic and current – is one of the environmental indicators reported on the Stats NZ website. There is an interactive map which shows you where the wetlands used to be.

By 2008 around 90% of wetlands across NZ had been lost. The Stats NZ website provides some more details based on findings from Landcare Research.