National Trust for Wetlands Formed

Forest and Bird, Issue 296, 1 May 2000, Page 9

National Trust for Wetlands Formed

higher profile for our vanishing wetlands is sought by a new trust founded in the Waikato. The National Wetland Trust of New Zealand is the product of a millennium initiative of the Waikato Conservation Board which in 1998 promoted the concept, to raise public awareness of wetlands and provide a central point for sharing wet-

lands information. Among its promoters is Gordon Stephenson, chair of South Waikato Forest and Bird, a distinguished life member of the Society, and author of Wetlands, Discovering New Zealand’s Shy Places (Government Printer 1986). "The Waikato is an appropriate place to start a National Wetland Centre because this

region is, in many respects, the "wetland centre" of the country, he says. "There are three wetlands in Waikato registered as having international significance under the Ramsar Convention of the World Conservation Union. (The Ramsar wetlands are the Kopuatai Peat Dome, Whangamarino Swamp, and the Miranda mudflats of the Firth

of Thames.) ‘The Trust has a vision of New Zealand’s wetlands being restored, enhanced and appreciated, Gordon Stephenson says. To do this it hopes to establish a centre as a place for education, and for appreciating the wetlands. It also plans to establish wetland trails, both regionally and nationally.