Nearly 90% of New Zealand’s wetland area has been lost since the early 1800s, and some remaining lakes and wetlands are degraded. Lake Ōkaro, near Rotorua, has suffered the effects of fertiliser runoff from surrounding farmland. The Birchall family (pictured here) donated 2 hectares of farmland adjacent to the lake to create a wetland area, surrounded with native plants. It will filter farmland nutrients before they reach the lake, improving the water quality. Fourteen bird species have begun to use the new wetland.
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New Zealand Herald
Reference:
4 April 2006
Photograph by Alan Gibson
Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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