New Zealand’s Associate Conservation Minister Nicky Wagner today congratulated community groups on their work to preserve New Zealand’s wetlands and encouraged New Zealanders to celebrate World Wetlands Day.
Wetlands play an important role in storing and purifying water, providing a habitat for wildlife and plants, and reducing flooding and soil erosion. Today I want to acknowledge the community groups throughout our country who work to protect our wetlands for future generations, Ms Wagner says.
Yesterday I attended a World Wetlands Day event organised by the Avon-Otakaro Network in Christchurch and I had the chance to see first-hand the inspiring work that is being done to establish a network of Christchurch wetlands.
World Wetlands Day is celebrated each year to mark the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) on February 2, 1971. The theme for World Wetlands Day 2015 isWetlands for our future.
I encourage everyone to take a look at World Wetlands Day events or wetland conservation groups in their area to see how they can help keep wetlands around for future generations, Ms Wagner says.
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