Further losses predicted for wetlands in future

An international report, led by a DOC scientist, warns the world is on track to lose even more of its wetlands – but solutions exist.

New Zealand has lost 90% of our wetlands.This pattern is reflected internationally – over 400 million hectares of wetlands have vanished since 1970. And if the loss continues at its current rate, a further fifth of the world’s remaining wetlands could be gone by 2050 unless we take action.

Wetlands provide food, regulate the global water cycle, remove water pollution, serve as buffer from the effects of sea level rise and storm surges, and store carbon.

In New Zealand, wetlands are home to an abundance of taonga species – kahikatea, native ducks, rare orchids and mudfish, to name a few of wetland plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.