Why biodiversity matters.

Put simply, a thriving, diverse ecosystem is our life-force. Without it, we simply cannot survive. Wetlands help purify our water, store carbon and help prevent flooding and drought. 

Indigenous forests provide carbon sinks and provide us with the air we breathe. Forests and farms provide products such as timber, fuel, food and medicines. 

Our farming, forestry and horticulture depend on the resources and services provided by biological systems.

Indigenous biodiversity is often found nowhere else in the world. It is important to New Zealand’s environment, culture, society and economy, and is key to providing stability and resilience as we adapt to the fluctuations and disturbances brought about by climate change.

So how are we doing?

According to the Ministry for the Environment, we could lose more than 80 per cent of our reptiles, frogs, bats and birds, and unknown numbers of our invertebrates (such as weta, snails, funghi, good viruses). 

Fifty-nine of our native bird species have disappeared since humans first arrived here and we continue to lose fundamental ecosystems and habitats like tussock grasslands, sand dunes, indigenous scrubland and indigenous forests. 

Over 4,000 native plants and animals, including the kererū and the kiwi, are at risk of extinction despite a community push for conservation. The main causes? Our use of land - be it urban development, inefficient use of or intensification of productive land - combined with invasive pests and diseases.

Climate change is also having an impact. These include shifts in the range of some species, and earlier timing of leaf-unfolding, bird migration, and egg-laying in some species. 

Warmer water and lower flows in rivers and streams as a result of climate change are disrupting delicate ecosystems.  

 How can you help?

Get involved. There are a number of community and national conservation groups and programs working to clean our waterways, regenerate land with native plants and eradicate pests. 

There is a lot of work to be done, and with rapidly increasing climate pressures every bit counts.

Get yourself planting! The Department of Conservation and Forest and Bird have created a list of plants that our indigenous species love. 

Try to use plants that naturally occur in your area. These could include kōwhai, flax, kakabeak, and tarata for nectar; and wineberry, karamū, and korokia for fruit. For more ideas on what works in your neck of the woods, go visit your local DOC or make contact with your local branch of Forest and Bird.

 Want to find out more?

• Get tickets to the Indigenous Biodiversity Workshop: Monitoring Flora and Fauna on Your Property at the Wao Summit in October 2021.
• Check out the work being done by WAI Wānaka and Wanaka Backyard Trapping, and donate to your local planting heroes Te Kakano Aotearoa Trust & Wakatipu Reforestation Trust or to national projects like Million Metres or Trees that Count.

The Wao Summit is a six day annual event held in Wānaka. Its aim is to inspire, educate and enable our transition as a community and nation to a healthy, thriving, diverse, carbon zero community. 

Tickets on sale now at www.wao.co.nz/summit2021