Taumata Lagoon - Home to Gretel wetlands
January 2008
Drying out as a result of agricultural irrigation
In 1990, Neil and Sylvia Hayes and their family purchased a major part of the Taumata Lagoon, 9km from Carterton, Wairarapa, recognised as one of the last vestiges of natural, wild wetland in the Wairarapa, with an outstanding oxbow lagoon and a remnant block of native bush. The bush was logged in 1964, but in 1990 the Hayes family undertook a major native bush restoration programme and have now planted thousands of kahikatea, totara and native flax. 7.5 hectares are under a QEII covenant and the regional council earlier conferred the area, Key Native Ecosystem (KNE) status. The Hayes' Brown Teal Conservation Trust which is dedicated to captive-breeding and in-depth study programmes based on researching and recovery of pateke, is based here at the Gretel Lagoon wetlands. read more...
Wairio Wetland Restoration Project
Eastern Lake Wairarapa
Background
Local legend has it that the Wairio Wetland, located on the eastern shores of Lake Wairarapa was once a paradise providing habitat for substantial numbers of waterfowl and waders. The wetland was adversely affected by the Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme (LWVDS) during the 1960/70s which resulted in large areas being drained and cleared of forest and sedges. The block was further affected by the construction of the Parera Road, which separated the block from the adjacent Boggy Pond Wetland. Willow trees planted in the valley for erosion control also invaded the Wairio Wetland. These willows were subsequently cleared and bulldozed into wind-rows running east-to-west across the wetland.
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