Mangarakau Wetland (or Mangarakau Swamp) is in the north-west Tasman District in the South Island of New Zealand. Situated south of the Whanganui Inlet and adjacent to the former settlement of Mangarakau, it is the largest swamp in the Nelson-Marlborough region. The wetlands drain into the Whanganui Inlet as well as into the Patarau River further south. [1] It is owned by the Native Forest Restoration Trust and managed by the Friends of Mangarakau Swamp Inc.
The freshwater wetland, south of the Whanganui Inlet, [2] is the largest remaining wetland in the Nelson-Marlborough region. [3] [4] It covers an area of 350–400 hectares (860–990 acres). [3] [5] It is bordered by hills in the south-east and north-west, the latter being limestone. [3] [6] Streams from the hills drain into the wetland [6] and to the south it drains into the Patarau River and to the north into the Whanganui Inlet. [4] Soils are made up of peat. [6]
There are three lakes within the wetland: Lake Mangarakau, Big Pond, and Little Pond. [6] Lake Mangarakau is the largest, covering just over 14 hectares (35 acres). [7]
The wetland was once covered in kahikatea and pukatea forest and flax (harakeke). Settlers in the area and at the Mangarakau settlement practiced gold and coal mining, flax harvesting, logging and attempted to drain the wetland for farmland all of which threatened the wetland. [3] In 2002 and 2004 fires destroyed wetland vegetation. [5]
The Native Forest Restoration Trust owns the wetland which is protected by a Queen Elizabeth II National Trust covenant. [3] Day-to-day management, restoration and conservation is carried out by the Friends of Mangarakau Swamp Inc. [3]
In 2018 the Friends of Mangarakau Swamp, the Tasman District Council and the Department of Conservation applied to have the wetland listed by Ramsar, to give it international recognition. [8] As of 2023 Mangarakau is not one of the seven Ramsar sites in New Zealand. [9]
A 2004 paper identified a large variety of flora and fauna: "native trees, shrubs, climbers and creepers number 100; orchids 33; ferns and fern allies 80; native herbs 70; naturalised plants 60; birds 50; fish and amphibians 13; and insects and land invertebrates 60. Plants and animal species total 466 so far, many of them being uncommon or rare, and more await discovery." [3] There are four main vegetation types: Baumea arthrophylla sedgeland, Typha orientalis -Baumea arthrophylla raupō reedland, Gleichenia dicarpa fernland, Phormium tenax (harakeke) tussockland or flaxland. [3] [10] There are some remnants of lowland forest species such as kahikatea, beech, pukatea, northern and southern rātā, nīkau and tree ferns. [3] Orchids, ferns and other species grow on the pakihi soils. [3]
Native fish include mudfish, kokopu and inanga. [10] [11] Fernbirds and bitterns nest in the raupõ at the edge of the swamp. [10] [11]
Abel Tasman National Park is a national park at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. It covers 237.1 km2 (91.5 sq mi) of land between Golden Bay / Mohua and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it the smallest of New Zealand's national parks. Despite this, the park is one of the most visited, partially due to the popularity of the Abel Tasman Coast Track which spans 60 km (37 mi) along the eastern and northern coastal areas of the park.
Waikanae is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (wai) "of the grey mullet".
Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. The spit includes around 25 km (16 mi) of stable land and another 5 km (3.1 mi) of mobile sand spit running eastwards from Cape Farewell, the northern-most point of the South Island. Farewell Spit is the longest sand spit in New Zealand, and is a legally protected Nature Reserve. The area is designated as a Ramsar wetland site and an East Asian–Australasian Flyway Shorebird Network site. Farewell Spit is administered by the Department of Conservation as a seabird and wildlife reserve. Apart from a small area at the base of the spit, it is closed to the public except through organised tours. Conservation initiatives are in progress towards eliminating mammalian predators from Farewell Spit, including a proposal for a predator-proof fence.
The Hauraki Plains are a geographical area located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the lower (northern) end of the Thames Valley. They are located 75 kilometres south-east of Auckland, at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula and occupy the southern portion of a rift valley bounded on the north-west by the Hunua Ranges, to the east by the Coromandel and Kaimai ranges and to the west by a series of undulating hills which separate the plains from the much larger plains of the Waikato River.
Lake Horowhenua is in the Horowhenua District, an area of the southern Manawatū-Whanganui region in New Zealand's North Island. It covers an area of 3.9 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi).
The Manawatū River is a major river of the lower North Island of New Zealand. The river flows from the Ruahine Ranges, through both the Manawatū Gorge and the city of Palmerston North, and across the Manawatū Plains to the Tasman Sea at Foxton.
The Cache River is a 92-mile-long (148 km) waterway in southernmost Illinois, in a region sometimes called Little Egypt. The basin spans 737 square miles (1,910 km2) and six counties: Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, and Union. Located at the convergence of four major physiographic regions, the river is part of the largest complex of wetlands in Illinois. The Cache River Wetlands is America's northernmost cypress/tupelo swamp and harbors 91 percent of the state's high quality swamp and wetland communities. It provides habitat for more than 100 threatened and endangered species in Illinois. In 1996, the Cache was designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
Spittal Pond Nature Reserve is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Bermuda, located close to the Atlantic coast of Smith's Parish. Surrounding the third largest pond in Bermuda, Spittal Pond, it covers an area of 60 acres (24 ha). It is one of 13 parks or reserves managed by the Bermuda Department of Conservation Services which protects and conserves environmentally critical areas and habitats. The pond reserve, a wetland site, is one of the seven Ramsar Sites in Bermuda, which was approved on 10 May 1999 for the criteria of its unique characteristics such as its lagoon which is permanently brackish, ecology featuring wet grassland and mangrove forests, seasonal shorebirds, other ver run waterbirds and European eels. It is also home to many types of species mostly including birds.
New Zealand has several notable wetlands but 90% of wetland areas have been lost following European settlement.
Taupō Swamp is a lowland freshwater swamp located three kilometres (1.9 mi) north of Plimmerton and 20 kilometres (12 mi) north-northeast of Wellington. In 1986 the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust purchased Taupō Swamp with the aim of both protecting and restoring the wetland. Taupō Swamp is home to largely indigenous vegetation including sedges, flax, ferns, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and grasses. Flax leaves shelter and shade the swamp providing a habitat that is favourable for eels and native fish including galaxiid species. There are invasive plant species present that threaten the swamp including Darwin's barberry, Blackberry, Gorse, Broom, Pussy Willow and Japanese honeysuckle. Another possible threat is development of nearby land as this may cause silt to run off into the swamp as well as fire.
The Becher Point Wetlands site is a wetland nature reserve in Port Kennedy on the Swan Coastal Plain of south-western Western Australia. The 677-hectare (1,670-acre) coastal site lies in the City of Rockingham, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of the state capital, Perth, and is largely surrounded on the landward side by residential suburbs. It comprises about 200 very small wetlands among sand ridges between Becher Point the Perth-Mandurah Road.
Lake Rotokare is a landslide dammed lake in the New Zealand region of Taranaki. It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) east of Eltham.
Bushy Park is a forest reserve and bird sanctuary located in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. The reserve is located eight kilometres (5.0 mi) inland from Kai Iwi and has an area of approximately 99 hectares, including the Bushy Park Homestead and grounds. The forest has a diverse range of plant species, with canopy trees including northern rātā, rimu, tawa, and pukatea. In 1962, the forest was gifted to the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand by the former owner G. F. Moore, along with the homestead and its surrounds. The reserve is now managed by the Bushy Park Trust, in partnership with Forest & Bird and local iwi Ngā Rauru Kītahi. The forest reserve and homestead were renamed as Bushy Park Tarapuruhi in 2019.
The Discovery Bay Coastal Park is a linear protected area of coastal land in western Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The 10,460-hectare (25,800-acre) park extends along the coast of Discovery Bay from Cape Nelson north-westwards for 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the border with South Australia. The park was listed on Australia's now-defunct Register of the National Estate, and lies within the traditional lands of the Gunditjmara people.
Pāuatahanui Wildlife Reserve is a wetland reserve at the eastern edge of the Pāuatahanui Inlet of the Porirua Harbour in Porirua, New Zealand. The reserve contains the most significant area of saltmarsh in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It also includes tidal mudflats, shrub lands and regenerating coastal forest. The reserve covers 50 hectares, of which the Department of Conservation owns 46 hectares, and Forest & Bird owns the remaining 4 hectares under covenant to the Queen Elizabeth II Trust. The reserve is managed by a committee of Forest & Bird representatives in association with the Department of Conservation.
Lake Papaitonga is located in the Horowhenua, an area of the southern Manawatū-Whanganui region in New Zealand's North Island. Part of the Papaitonga Scenic Reserve, a 135 ha area of forest and wetland, it is the only remaining lake bordered by undisturbed native forest in the Horowhenua region, and contains two populations of endangered native land snails. The traditional home of the Muaūpoko people, the lake was the scene of their massacre and defeat by invading chief Te Rauparaha. The naturalist Walter Buller later managed to purchase Papaitonga and its environs for his country home, which led to its forest being preserved and it eventually becoming a scenic reserve.
Lake Gault is a small glacial lake in South Westland, New Zealand, near the township of Fox Glacier. A walking track from Lake Matheson leads to the lake, which is surrounded by mature native forest. A small hydro-electric power plant was constructed piping water from the lake to power a gold mining dredge at Gillespies Beach. Endangered Ōkārito kiwi (rowi) have been released into the wild around Lake Gault.
Westhaven Marine Reserve is a marine reserve covering an area of 536 hectares in the Whanganui Inlet at the top of New Zealand's South Island. It was established in 1994 and is administered by the Department of Conservation.
Ship Creek is a small river that flows into an area of coastal swamp forest on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Ship Creek is approximately 11 km (6.8 mi) long and flows northwest from catchment areas on the slopes of Bald Hill, reaching the Tasman Sea around 20 km (12 mi) north-east of Haast. Near the mouth of Ship Creek, there are short walks around dune lakes and ancient kahikatea swamp forest.
Pharazyn Reserve is a public reserve located north of Waikanae, on the Kapiti Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located adjacent to the Te Harakeke Swamp, a regionally significant area of harakeke and raupō wetland. The reserve covers an area of 41 ha, and is managed by Kapiti Coast District Council. The site was originally established as a sewage treatment plant in the 1970s, but was decommissioned in 2002. A long term environmental restoration project was commenced to restore the site as a recreation and wildlife reserve. The site is now described as one of the top 10 birdwatching sites in the Wellington region. Recreational facilities in the reserve include walking paths, a children's playground with a flying fox, toilets and a bird hide overlooking one of the ponds.