What's On at Zealandia

Swamps, marshes, fens and bogs.  These are our wetland areas, crucial buffer zones at the boundaries between land and water. Wetlands act as giant sponges in the landscape, soaking up rainfall which helps prevent flooding during storms. They also help protect rivers and lakes from runoff from the land during heavy rain by trapping sediment that can choke a stream and absorbing surplus nutrients like nitrogen that can lead to the explosion of algal blooms.  Wetlands are a toxin sink, storing environmental pollutants as well as nitrogen and carbon in its wet, airless soil and in the deep roots of the plants that grow there.

Katie Sheridan is studying Pateke (Brown Teal) at ZEALANDIA. While she was looking for the elusive ducks in the wetlands, our “eye in the sky” Alfie Kaka caught up with her in the wetlands to find out more about what she has been up to…

Alfie here, and today I’m talking about another bird-friendly plant in Wellington, and interviewing long time Zealandia volunteer guide, and conservationist, Des Smith.  I flew up to meet him in his garden in Ngaio, in a bush-lined street, full of native trees.  Here’s the transcript, from my ‘Stoatskine’ reporter’s notebook.

Alfie here; I’ve just caught up again with Sirocco for a photo shoot and interview just before he began another evening’s round of parties at his plush Zealandia hotel (he’s only at Zealandia for another week before he heads down south to Orokunu).

I recently had the opportunity to talk to two of my favourite Zealandia conservation staff – Raewyn Empson and Matu Booth – about our impending visit from Sirocco the kākāpō.