Philippa Stevenson: We ignore nature at our peril

I want to tell you about wetlands. I want to tell you how important they are but I'm not sure I believe it myself.

If I was to write the incredibly honest list of the things that are really important to me I don't believe wetlands would get a look in.

If my own house was in order I'd spare a thought for friends, then neighbours, our town and so on in ever-widening circles.

When things seem simply too big, part of me is inclined toward hedonism. Crack another bottle of champagne, throw the cat another canary and let's party like there's no tomorrow.

What stops me is a bigger part of me - my children and grandchildren. If I do nothing but party they will suffer the hangover and it's gut-wrenching to think that the only thought they might have of me and my generation is to wonder why, when we had a chance to do something, we simply popped another cork.

And so I find there are reasons to care about - of all things - wetlands. It bothers me that in only 150 years New Zealand's wetlands have shrunk from one million hectares to about 100,000ha.

It bothers me even more that in my neck of the woods not a single one of the peat lakes of the Waikato - originally totalling about 30 - has been left irrevocably unaltered. Some have simply disappeared for good. It bothers me the most that efforts to halt this degradation have been all but non-existent despite those with the power and responsibility to make a difference - central and regional government - showing that for decades they've known the situation was bad and getting worse.

For instance, Cabinet approved a National Wetland Policy in 1986 because "the Government regards the protection of representative important wetlands as being desirable".

The policy noted that "the long-term benefits lost by modifying wetlands frequently do not justify the short term benefits gained".

Eleven years later, the Ministry for the Environment's weighty 1997 state of the environment report said the policy had been "largely ignored and is now being reviewed by the Department of Conservation (DoC)." Two years after that DoC noted on the policy listed with the Ramsar Convention - an international wetlands convention ratified by New Zealand in 1976 - that it "is becoming outdated" and "a stock-take of implementation is under way, which may lead to a formal review of the policy".

Six years on no new wetland policy is in sight. Those who advocate for wetlands believe their best hope is an all-encompassing national policy on freshwater, which is presently under discussion.

But it's clear wetlands are struggling for attention even in this forum when there is little mention of them in a public discussion document beyond the introductory remarks by Environment Minister Marian Hobbs.

"It is about ensuring our lakes, rivers, wetlands and other freshwater resources are fairly used, protected, and where necessary, preserved - now and for future generations," the minister says.

Last week, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - effectively an environmental audit of the Earth in the carefully considered opinion of 1300 leading scientists from 95 countries - was published. It's grim reading that does not bode well for the future generations that Hobbs and I purport to care about. The experts warn that the ongoing degradation of many ecosystems increases the likelihood of potentially abrupt changes that will seriously affect human wellbeing. This includes the emergence of new diseases, sudden changes in water quality, creation of coastal "dead zones", fisheries collapse, and shifts in regional climate.

Globally, we have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively in the last 50 years than in any other period, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, the report said. More land was converted to agriculture since 1945 than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined. More than half of all synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, first made in 1913, ever used on the planet has been used since 1985.

It's hard, if not impossible, for each of us to take things in on the vast scale covered in the assessment let alone feel we can do anything about it.

But I know that wetlands are one of the ecosystems that have been changed rapidly, as the report states, "largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel".

If I can't affect or influence anything globally maybe I can care enough to do something locally. Wetlands may be as good a place to start as any.

My grandkids will tell you how well I do.