Fish & Game is taking its chance to promote its commitment to the conservation of wetlands as the world celebrates World Wetlands Day today.

Fish & Game communications advisor Grant Dyson says New Zealand has lost 90 per cent of its natural wetlands through land development.

A Fish & Game officer duck banding at Kaituna Wetland in the Bay of Plenty.

He says people are gradually starting to wake up to the vital role these precious environments play.

'Our wetlands include a wide variety of swamps, bogs, lakes, rivers, lagoons and estuaries and play a crucial role in providing habitats for wildlife – including many rare native species – and maintaining biodiversity.

'But there's also a growing awareness of the important role they play in helping reduce flooding, recharging groundwater and augmenting flows, and filtering runoff.”

Grant says Fish & Game and game bird hunters are one of the biggest advocates for wetland protection and enhancement.

'For many decades we've worked in good faith with landowners across the country trying to claw back lost habitat.”

Grant hopes World Wetland Day will continue to help dispel the notion wetlands are just boggy swamps.

'Fish & Game is proud to have played a leading role in wetland protection – managing, developing or helping to create numerous wetlands in many parts of the country.”

Grant says one impressive wetland enhancement project overseen by Fish & Game is nearing completion in the Bay of Plenty.

The $1million project has involved the construction of a 1.2km bund to hold Waikato River water in an old river channel and create a permanent wetland.

The project was a joint venture between Contact Energy, Wairakei Environmental Mitigation Charitable Trust and the Waikato Catchment Ecological Enhancement Trust.

Grant says Fish & Game has also been working at a ‘micro' level, assisting farmers and other landowners to turn unproductive, flood-prone and swampy areas of their properties into healthy wetland environments, supporting a variety of plants, birds and animals.