WETLANDS

HOW IS IT RELATED TO IMPROVING WATER QUALITY?

• Wetlands are like kidneys, they filter out waste from the water, much like our kidneys which filter out waste from our blood

WHAT IS THE SCIENCE ASPECT?

• Students studying at the Waikato Institute of Technology get a chance to work with scientists from Landcare Research to monitor things like geographic positioning systems, setting up plots and transects, insect identification and setting up traps for sampling of invertebrates.

FUN FACTS

• Only 20-25% of the Waikato region's wetland area still remains.
• Feral cats and stoats attack birds living in the wetland area.
• Wetlands absorb wind and tidal forces.
• Wetlands are in every continent except Antartica.
• Wetlands can have both fresh and salt water.