Introduction
New Zealand's native plants and animals (biodiversity) are internationally important because a large proportion of the species are endemic, occurring only in this country. That means if they are lost here, they are lost to the world, unlike many species in other countries. About 90% of New Zealand insects, 80% of trees, ferns and flowering plants, 25% of bird species, all 60 reptile species, four remaining frogs and two species of bat, are found nowhere else on earth. Britain in contrast has only two endemic species, one plant and one animal.
The natural ecosystems and biological processes are also valuable in providing important basic services like erosion, flood and climate control, recycling of nutrients, filtering of contaminants, and capturing the sun's energy to form the basis of most food webs.
Marlborough has been identified as one of five centres of bio-diversity in New Zealand, due to the concentration of endemic species which have evolved in the dry rocky conditions in the southern part of the region. Its central location means a number of more common species also occur, some at either their northern or southern limits of distribution.
While the New Zealand land mass has had a dramatic past over many millions of years, the arrival of humans less than 1,000 years ago brought major and rapid change. Habitats were cleared and new animal species arrived and fed vigorously on many of the native plants and animals which had evolved with no such pressures. Over 45 species of native bird have become extinct and over 1,000 species of plant, animal and fungi are considered threatened today, with further extinctions likely.
In spite of these issues, there are many projects happening on both private and public land to protect remaining areas and improve the habitat that they provide so that native plants and animals can survive in the long term.
This page provides background information on the ecology of New Zealand and of both southern and northern Marlborough.
It also provides detail about a number of Council projects which relate to ecology and biodiversity issues. These include:
- the Significant Natural Areas project which has a focus on identifying and protecting biodiversity on private land in partnership with Marlborough landowners.
- the Wairau Plain Landscape Project.
- the Grovetown Lagoon Restoration Project.
- projects on a number of Council reserves.
