The new wetland at Waitangi Regional Park will provide another haven for native fish and birdlife with the critical ingredient of water about to be added.

“It’s great to see the wetland so close to being finished and offering a new home for native species,” says the Regional Council’s Team Leader Open Spaces Russell Engelke.

“Now that it’s built and ready we’re going to flood this area, on purpose. It should take around two months. We’ll be monitoring the water levels the entire time to make sure it’s going to plan,” adds Russell.

A community planting day on 1 June saw around 3,000 native trees added to the site by 200 keen locals.

The new wetland is 15 hectares in size, and is next to the existing 6 hectare Horseshoe Wetland created by the Regional Council in 2009.

The wetland sits in the flood plain of the Tūtaekurī and Ngaruroro Rivers, near the coast at Awatoto.

The project was funded and constructed in a partnership with Te Wai Mauri Trust - contributing Te Wai Māori funding, Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, Napier Port, and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council which manages the project for the long term.

Leading experts in wetland habitat construction and fish passage collaborated to design the outlet between the wetland and the Tūtaekurī River, to form a series of pools and swales that give fish a chance to rest.

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