Connection to wetlands key to future resilience

From a distance, wetlands may seem like blank space at best, or dumping grounds at worst. But once you take a closer look, they are full of life. Often dismissed as swampy margins to be drained and developed, these living ecosystems are quietly doing the work that most of us don’t see—filtering water, softening the blow of floods, storing carbon deep in the soil and sheltering many fragile native species.

At the 2025 Australasian Mangrove and Saltmarsh Network Conference, one message rose above the policy talk and scientific debate: wetlands are not at the margins of our environment; they are central to it. Protecting them is not just environmental housekeeping but fundamental to climate resilience, biodiversity insurance and a commitment to future generations.

Connecting to tradition

“I think why I'm so interested in wetlands and salt marshes is because of how they were used as mahinga kai (food gathering places) and how they were once so plentiful,” says Rāwinia Wikaira, an Otago University Bachelor of Arts and Science graduate attending the conference with support from The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand.

On 3–6 November 2025, the Australasian Mangrove and Saltmarsh Network (AMSN) hosted their annual conference in Tauranga, at the University of Waikato Tauranga campus. Over the four days, attendees participated in keynote sessions, workshops, panel discussions and field trips to significant local sites across Tauranga Moana (harbour). Bringing together researchers, students, practitioners, iwi (Māori tribes) and environmental managers, the conference provided an opportunity for knowledge-sharing, networking and an opportunity to explore the latest science, restorative practices and policy developments in coastal wetland ecosystems.

These vital ecosystems are significant for the land, waterways and wildlife—but they are also highly significant buffers for humanity when it comes to major weather events. They protect against floods and coastal erosion, function as water quality filters and provide essential, biodiverse habitats for native birds and fish.

Visiting the grassroots

During the conference, attendees chose between two site visits across the Bay of Plenty, one in Tauranga and one in Maketū. Local iwi, council members and community leaders shared pūrākau, grassroot restoration efforts, and the long arc of progress over time. Hearing mana whenua (local Māori) spoken, grounded in lived history and ancestral connection, brought powerful context to the wetlands function and their once-thriving state. It allowed attendees to better understand not only the restoration process itself, but also the resistance, complexity and persistence required in conservation work of this kind.

The realities of creating change

For Anya Worthington, a second-year student at the University of Auckland studying toward a Bachelor of Commerce and Science, the field trip to the Tauranga Harbour painted a broader picture of the challenges that groups face when trying to create change.

“They were talking a lot about different laws and elements that can get in the way and how multiple processes have to happen before they can make real action,” she shares. “It takes a lot of time and then delays that important change. I think learning about how hard it really is to make change, but then the importance of it was eye-opening—I think the people that led it were a great choice as well, because they knew the area inside out. Any questions you had, they had all the right answers.”

Restoration post-colonisation

The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poutohutohu Ao Māori (Māori Advisor) Aneika Young attended to facilitate a workshop and also attended the Maketū site visit. The Ngāti Whakaue Kaumatua (elder) and Iwi Monitor, Liam Tapsell, spoke about local history and some of the impacts on iwi with colonisation, including modification of the area and also land confiscation. Guided by mana whenua (local Indigenous People), attendees were shown some of the estuary that had been restored and where they’d rediverted the awa (river) out to the moana (ocean).

Different skills, a shared goal

University of Otago Ecology Teaching Fellow and Researcher Manaia Pearmain-Fenton has a background in manu (bird) behaviour and how they can inform conservation. For her, learning about estuarine and mangrove systems provided an opportunity to see the interdisciplinary approach of people from all different areas, like lawyers and economists. Her reflections are that, “formally, it was a conference, but really it was just a cool opportunity for people to come and meet each other, people who work in all these different spaces and through different means, but ultimately, with the same goal and the same love for our estuaries and our taiao (natural environment).”

For Manaia, kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of these systems means not isolating the work to one field but broadening the lens and recognising each ecosystem’s impact on another.

Partnerships and perspectives

For all those who The Nature Conservancy supported to attend, the significance of the event was in the opportunity to hear from and connect with diverse perspectives, particularly mana whenua, when it comes to caring for the environment.

“I’ve found that you're not going to learn unless you take those chances, and I'm really glad I did,” said Anya Worthington. “I was uncertain going into it, because it's my first time doing anything like that, but it’s one of the best experiences I’ve had.”

Across the conference, it was evident that enduring conservation depends on partnership—between science and story, policy and place, research and lived experience. Through its blue carbon market workshop, The Nature Conservancy explored how Aotearoa might responsibly value the carbon stored within coastal wetlands while safeguarding ecological and cultural integrity. In championing Indigenous knowledge, investing in early-career researchers and advancing practical pathways like blue carbon, TNC’s involvement aligned with the wider spirit of the gathering—grounded in history, guided by community and committed to building resilient landscapes for generations to come.