Extent of freshwater wetlands

Report: TR 2022/19

Authors: Karen Denyer (Papawera Consulting), Craig Briggs (Waikato Regional Council)

This technical report documents the extent of freshwater wetlands in the Waikato region based on 2018 land cover.

The current (as of 2018) extent of freshwater wetland in the Waikato region is 33,268 hectares, covering approximately 1 per cent of the region’s total land area. The largest remaining areas, Kopuatai Peat Dome and Whangamarino Wetland, are internationally significant.

Eighty-three per cent of the remaining areas of freshwater wetland in the Waikato region occur within the most threatened environments (Category 1 and 2).

The Waikato, Hauraki and Matamata-Piako districts collectively hold 78 per cent of the region’s extent of freshwater wetland. Extensive areas remain in the lower Waikato Valley and Hauraki Plains, where the internationally significant Ramsar wetlands (Kopuatai Peat Dome and Whangamarino Wetland) are found.