Forest and Bird is calling on the Government to develop a national wetland restoration plan, saying they are our "secret resource" to help to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Only 10 percent of historic peat wetlands remain, and more than 70 percent of former peatland is currently used for intensive agriculture.
Kaiwaiwai wetland Photo: Aiden Bichen
Annabeth Cohen, Forest & Bird freshwater conservation advocate, says the two types of wetland that are really good at storing carbon are peat wetlands and coastal wetlands – mangroves, salt marches and sea grasses.
“Peat wetlands are all over the world and take up 3 percent of the word’s surface, but they hold twice as much as the world’s forests when we talk about carbon,” Cohen says.
They also mitigate the effects of climate change, she says.
“Mangroves for example can reduce the impact of rising sea levels as they build up sediment and rise with the rising sea level to create natural barriers.
Peat wetlands are powerful carbon sinks.
“Peat wetlands collect carbon as they collect sediment in the peat, but drained wetlands actually release carbon. So, we are doing ourselves a disservice by not re-wetting the peat that we’ve lost historically in New Zealand.”
Every year in New Zealand 6 percent of our agricultural emissions come from drained peat wetland, she says. And coastal wetlands can store carbon 60 times faster than a tropical forest.
Forest and Bird are calling for joined up rules to protect wetlands of various kinds.
“One thing we’ve got to do from a regional council perspective is protect every single wetland left and the government is working on making that happen
“But in terms of an ambitious plan to restore what’s missing I don’t see anything out there and we would really like to see the government do something.
“Given how vital wetlands are to our fight against climate change we’ve really got to have a national coordinated plan. So, we are calling on the government to double the extent of wetlands in New Zealand.”
