Protecting our wetlands and critically endangered wildlife
Wetlands are a precious part of our ecosystem, acting like the kidneys of the earth, cleaning the water that flows into them. They trap sediment and soils, filter out contaminants; can reduce flooding and protect coastal land from storm surge; and return nitrogen to the atmosphere. In New Zealand they support the greatest concentration of wildlife out of any other habitat and yet 90% of our wetlands have been cleared.
Many of the community conservation groups in the Hauraki Coromandel are working to protect remaining wetlands and the endangered species that inhabit them, such as the Matuku-Hūrepo or Australasian Bittern, pictured below.
This is a strikingly beautiful and secretive wetland bird that has perfected invisibility. Its colour and striations exactly mimic the close, vertical world of reeds and raupō, especially when it lifts its dagger beak right up, narrows itself to angular reed-thinness and sways gently with the wind-rustling stems. The male’s distinctive mating call is a sonorous, haunting boom that reverberates through its wetland habitat - the call of the wild.
Today’s Mind-Bender is the Last of the Year! Can You Guess It Before Everyone Else? 🌟🎁🌲
I dance in the sky with green and gold, a spectacle few are lucky to behold; I’m best seen in the south, a celestial sight—what am I, lighting up the New Zealand night?
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.3% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.7% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
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