Hon Amy Adams

Minister for the Environment
27 September 2012 Media Statement

Floating Wetland Helps Clean Up Lake Rotorua

Environment Minister Amy Adams says a floating wetland made from hundreds of thousands of recycled plastic bottles has been an effective initiative to help restore Lake Rotorua’s water quality.

Ms Adams visited the 4000-square metre floating wetland today as part of a visit to see the progress that has been made in the Rotorua Lakes Protection and Restoration Programme.

The floating wetland, which was launched in July last year, is part of the restoration programme to which the Government has contributed $72.1 million.

The wetland consists of 20,000 native plants and more than 400,000 recycled plastic bottles, and is reducing nitrogen and phosphorus in the water.

Once fully grown, the wetland will be able to remove four tonnes of nitrogen and one tonne of phosphorus from the lake each year.

Native plants are planted on the floating island of plastic bottles, which then form a new habitat for both the plants and wildlife. As the plants grow, their roots reach into the water and remove nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous.

“The floating wetland is helping to improve Lake Rotorua’s water quality, provide a habitat for wildlife and offer an original tourist attraction. It is great to see such an innovative solution to an environmental problem,” Ms Adams says.

The restoration programme aims to restore four priority lakes - Rotorua, Rotoiti, Okareka, and Rotoehu. The programme includes measures to address the different sources of nutrients entering the four lakes. Key components include sewerage works, treatment or diversion of nutrient-rich streams, capping lake sediments to lock up nutrients and construction of wetlands.


ENDS

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