From the President
Ross Cottle
The Whanganui AGM has come and gone and very successful it was, with the bus trip to Bushy Park being a highlight.
My thanks go to William Abel and Adrienne Bushell for organising it for us.
The Wairio Wetland is progressing well with the diversion of water from Matthews Lagoon having been completed late summer although there is still some fine tuning required for it to reach its full potential. With the extra water now coming in it has opened the possibility of developing another seven or eight hectares on the northern end for waterfowl habitat.
A planting day was held there in July in the Victoria University block with some infill planting in areas where nursery plants such as manuka have been planted previously to carry on the research for best practice for wetland restoration. We are planning to build a bird viewing hide on a peninsula in Stage 4 of the wetland in the coming summer.
The board has decided to invest some funding into university research grants for subjects relating to wetlands and a subcommittee has been set up.
Hope the winter/spring is treating you well.
Ross Cottle