The glistening waters and big sky vistas of Wairarapa Moana appeal to those looking fora peaceful experience. The lakeside silence isbroken only by the wind and the flap ofwings. Visitors can explore and enjoy the wildlife of the lakes, natural wetlands and sand dunes. Despite its sense of remoteness, Wairarapa Moanais surrounded by farmland and is easily reached from nearby Featherston, Greytown andMartinborough. 

A wetland taonga

Wairarapa Moana is an internationally important wetland and the largest lake and remaining wetlandcomplex in the lower North Island. For some 800 yearsit has been a place of significant customary and spiritual importance, abundant in natural food and resources.

Wairarapa Moana has a history that links farmers and tangata whenua. In the 1840’s land leases from Māori by sheep farmers were barred by a Crown keen to buy the land and sell it on for profit. Just the lakes and the flood-prone areas crucial for tuna/ eel fishing were left in Māori ownership. The Moana was subsequently gifted by tangata whenuato the Crown in 1896 in exchange for reserves. Māori eventually received land in the Waikato, andredress for Wairarapa iwi is being progressed under the Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty ofWaitangi.

A place of change

In 1855 one of the largest known earthquakes in Aotearoa/New Zealand contributed to raising the lakebed and wetlands. Lake Wairarapa, the shallow remains of a once larger lake, is part of a depression formed by the convergence of two tectonicplates.

While the wetlands continue to evolvenaturally, human intervention has reduced the area and changed the character of Wairarapa Moana. Swamps, predominant in the low-lying area of Wairarapa Moana, were drained and cleared for farming.

The Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme, a flood management system completed in the 1970’s, saw diversion of the Ruamahanga River away from Lake Wairarapa and the installation of the Barrage Gates. This system is still used to artificially manage the lakelevels.

In 2012, a formal partnership was established in response to a growing recognition of the need to improve the health and to restore the mauriof the lakes and the surrounding environment. Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Rangitāne o Wairarapa, local hapū, Greater Wellington Regional Council, South Wairarapa District Council, the Department of Conservation, farmers and the widercommunity now work together to help protect and enhance the natural, recreational, historical and cultural values of WairarapaMoana.

For further reading on the fascinating natural and human history of Wairarapa Moana see Wairarapa Moana: The Lake and Its People published by the Wairarapa Archive.

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