Fish and Game NZ marked World Wetlands Day with a reminder it's keen to partner with more farmers to help in the preservation and creation of wetlands.
The international theme for yesterday's World Wetlands Day was Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for growth.
In the past five years Eastern Fish and Game has helped nearly 70 Bay of Plenty and East Coast landowners with the creation or restoration of nearly 270ha of wetland.
Its staff are continuing to oversee Ohaaki wetland in the Reporoa district, its most significant project to date. Ohaaki was a joint venture between Contact Energy, Wairakei Environmental Mitigation Charitable Trust and the Waikato Catchment Ecological Enhancement Trust.
The $1 million project has involved the construction of a 1.2km-long stopbank to hold Waikato River water in an old river channel and create a permanent wetland habitat - for the benefit of hunters and the area's biodiversity.