Wetlands a win for all.

Some residents who live close to new wetlands popping up all over Canberra are focusing on the short term pain instead of the long term gain.

I woke up early this morning and headed out for a morning walk around Yerrabi Pond in Gungahlin. It was a beautiful crisp morning, a light mist danced above the water's surface and the bird life was quite vocal - feeding their young, cleaning their wings, diving under the water to find food and generally showing that they too were excited about the start of a perfect summer's day.

The newly finished Dickson Wetlands has had it's supporters and its knockers but it would seem that the supporters are winning the battle to convince the local residents who had questions of the decision to construct a man made wetland, that all is ok.

The short term gain was that during construction, bird life, in fact all life left the area - but this was always going to happen. They didn't go and die somewhere. They went to find another wetland.

Now that the Dickson wetlands are completed, all manner of life is returning - in face some residents who use the wetlands as a place to relax, exercise and spend time with their families say that there's twice as much bird life now compared with the pre-construction days. The ecosystem is alive and well and all the concerns that some local residents had originally, are now not justified.

These wetlands are great for the environment and us human beings and I want more of them.