Healthy Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals and other organisms, in conjunction with the landscape around them, come together to form the web of life. Human impact is by far the greatest threat to the functioning of normal ecological processes.

Healthy Ecosystems is one of the two key themes identified in the Community Catchment Plan (CCP). Our alpine freshwater ecosystems rely on clean water to thrive. The NPS-FM recognises five components of ecosystem health that must be managed and reported on:

1. Water Quality (chemical, physical, biological)
2. Water Quantity (water flows and levels)
3. Physical Habitat (available for plants and animals)
4. Aquatic Life (animals, plants and algae present)
5. Functioning Ecosystem (interactions between them all)

Water supports our unique ecosystems

Ecosystems can be large, like a forest, or small, like a pond. Many are crucial to human societies, providing people with water, food, building materials and a host of other essentials. They also provide planet-wide benefits like climate protection and biodiversity conservation.

New Zealand is home to all kinds of unique ecosystems containing plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world. In our catchment, many of these ecosystems have freshwater – lakes, rivers or wetlands – at their heart. Without healthy freshwater environments, many of our unique taonga such as fish, birds, and plants wouldn’t be able to survive.

Related links

• Action for Healthy Waterways
• Why Freshwater matters
• Freshwater Report 2020
• A beginner’s guide to ecosystem restoration
• Community Catchment Plan
• Community Wellbeing
• Risks to our Catchment