It’s been estimated that about 90 per cent of New Zealand‘s wetlands have been drained, primarily for farming and urban sprawl, and now only occupy about 2 per cent of the land area.
This has damaged river health and water quality nationwide.
Over the past few years, wetlands have been restored by a handful of farmers in the Waikato area.
Recently, Hora Hora School was invited to the Williams family’s local organic dairy farm.
Under the guiding eye of Enviroschools‘ Robyn Irving, the students helped plant the last native trees for a wetland project that saw 5ha of marginal land restored last August.
“It’s a whole school and community approach to learning and action for sustainability,” says Irving.