World Wetlands Day is held on February 2nd each year and marks the date when the Convention on Wetlands was adopted back in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The theme of this year's event is "Healthy Weatlands, Healthy People". Wetlands used to be viewed as smelly, unproductive spaces to be drained and converted to other uses as quickly as possible. In the past few decades this view has slowly changed as humans have realized that wetlands protect us from coastal erosion and storm surges, help store water and release it slowly thereby mitigating the impact of floods, improve water quality, are a storehouse for a variety of flora and fauna including species that we eat and use for medicine. Indeed, the health of humans and wetlands is inextricably linked.
I LOVE wetlands and celebrated by attending a pateke release. Pateke, or New Zealand brown teal, is an endangered duck species. Pateke used to be one of the most numerous birds in New Zealand prior to human arrival and could be found from the northern to southern tip, from sea level to 700 m. But a combination of habitat loss and arrival of mammalian predators means that now only between 1,000-2,000 birds survive in the wild.
Pateke call wetlands home, but unfortunately 98% of wetlands in New Zealand have been lost. To put this into perspective the US states of California and Ohio have also lost over 90% of their wetlands. In contrast, Europe has lost about 60%.
Even if Pateke manage to find and set up shop in the remaining New Zealand wetlands their chicks inevitably fall prey to a suite of introduced predators - stoats, ferrets, weasels, and feral cats. Fortunately there are a few mainland islands, such as Tawharanui and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, in New Zealand which are free of these pests. And as long as pests are kept at bay, pateke are known to be very rapid breeders.
The pateke release was a magical even because it brought so many people together for a great cause: from the Auckland Regional Council who had the forsight to acquire Tawharanui Regional Park in the 1970's, to the local school children who learned about the pateke and created artwork, to the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary volunteers whose hard work and dedication ensure the park remains predator free, to the captive breeders to reared the birds from chicks to adults, to Banrock Station wines who provided funding for the release, to the Department of Conservation recovery team who developed the methods for raising and successfully releasing the birds, and to the kapa haka group from Mahurangi College who delighted us with their welcoming songs.
Environmental issues can often seem so daunting, but people CAN make a difference. Businesses, national government, school kids, volunteers, and local government came together to make the wetlands at Tawharanui a bit healthier. We waited with anticipation for the park staff to open the lids and release the birds into their new home. I'm sure the ducks were eager too after being cooped up in boxes and flying (by plane) from Christchurch to Auckland. As the ducks glided into the still water and the audience glowed with delight, I'm sure I wasn't the only one hoping that the 20 pateke soon increase to many, many more!
Several feeder stations had been set up in the wetland to temporarily provide the pateke with food as they adapted to their new setting. But within moments of their release the pateke were paddling along the stream and dabbling for food at the water's edge.
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