Wetlands are areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by water, either permanently or temporarily. They come in many different guises, including streams, swamps, bogs, lakes, lagoons, estuaries, mudflats and flood plains.
Wetlands are among the world’s most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. Many of these plants and animals have specially adapted to living in wet places.
Wetlands were a treasure trove for early Maori, providing abundant supplies of flax for clothing, mats, kits and ropes; raupo for thatching and dried moss for bedding; the eels, fish and birds which lived there were a good food source; and the feathers of birds like the pukeko and bittern were used to adorn cloaks and other garments. Waterways were an important means of access by waka (canoe).
The international significance of wetlands is reflected in the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental agreement adopted on 2 February 1971 for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.