An East Cape pharmaceutical company has admitted planting mānuka over at least a hectare of "regionally-significant wetland" without consent. Gisborne District Council officers found a pump, hose and irrigation equipment running into the wetland in February last year. Photo: Supplied/ LDR Tairāwhiti Pharmaceuticals has pleaded guilty to modifying and taking water from Te Whare Wetlands in breach of the Resource Management Act, after Gisborne District Council laid charges. The company excavated 460m of channels in the wetlands to reduce flooding of its mānuka plantation, which has been used to produce mānuka oil at its Te Araroa factory.