22 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Hurunui District Landcare Group NZ made Automatic Predator Trap Kills - Resets - Repeats • Minimum labour, maximum impact • Service interval of 6 months • Eliminates possums and rats night after night Self re-setting, re-luring, and ready to go again and again. Place your order now! www.nzautotraps.com (07) 307 0303 Possums Mustelids Rats Bridging policy and paddock—clarity today, confidence for tomorrow. ruralconsulting.co.nz 027 774 7770 harry@ruralconsulting.co.nz Supporting farmers to care for the land The Hurunui District Landcare Group is an independent catchment of North Canterbury farmers supporting local farmers in the sustainable management of their natural resources in the face of increasingly complex environmental regulations. T T Virginia Wright “The belief is that we should be able to transition to a selffunded model as farmers see value in what we’re doing…” Now coming up to its 10th anniversary the Hurunui District Landcare Group (HDLG) is an independent catchment of North Canterbury farmers supporting local farmers in the sustainable management of their natural resources in the face of increasingly complex environmental regulations. Current chairperson Ian Knowles has been back on the family sheep and beef farm in Waipara for the last 12 years after several years working off-farm. His association with HDLG has come full circle since he was involved in setting up the original HDLG committee, he explains. “One of my jobs with Beef & Lamb New Zealand was supporting new farmer groups that were getting up and running,” says Ian. “So I knew a bit about them and then when I went back farming they were even more relevant as they were the group I leaned on for information about farming and better managing our resources,” he says. In 2016 MPI started funding the group which grew to become what is now HDLG with its reputable history of front-footing environmental requirements. Their Future Hurunui project enabled them to provide one-on-one support to members resulting in over 300 individually prepared Environment Plans along with practical advice on managing Intensive Winter Grazing Plans, understanding the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the importance of protecting and enhancing the region’s natural resources while at the same time reducing one’s farms environmental footprint. Ian is well aware of the work put in by many of the original HDLG members who have only recently retired after a decade spent getting HDLG to where it is now, managing a change in the funding model and government expectations. “They did a lot of cool projects so a lot of us are riding on their coat tails in some ways, but the government has a sinking lid policy which means that next year we get less than this and so on. “The belief is that we should be able to transition to a self-funded model as farmers see value in what we’re doing, which I agree with to a certain extent but we still rely on a lot of volunteers to keep things going and I think you still need some base funding which the members can top up.” The reduced funding means they now work as a group rather than an individual level, running seminars on relevant topics and hoping to attract as many members who live within reach as they can. They are working with six sub-groups on pest control, water quality biodiversity and the like with HDLG as the umbrella organisation providing admin and support. They bring in new energy along with their efficient use of technology, and some of the groups are bringing in their own funding, tapping into different options as they widen the net through their own networks. “Groups like them are important as we evolve and cut the cloth to fit. There’s a lot of goodwill in the community around the HDLG and it’s up to us to find the funding to make sure we can continue to provide the support that farmers are used to,” says Ian. Water quality is always big for HDLG as it is for everyone in the district who all rely on it one way or the other. Along with their monitoring and research, they’re always looking for improvement, hence the case-study currently looking at whether, where there are multiple properties with streams running through them and out into what is sometimes a small area at the bottom of the valley, a sediment trap or developing a wetland can improve the quality of the water that comes out. Numerous watershed groups through the district could combine to make a big difference and HDLG are hoping to work with Environment Canterbury to identify the areas where the biggest improvement could be achieved in the shortest amount of time. It’s projects like these that are at the core of everything HDLG does as they work on behalf of their district, doing what they can to ensure they leave the land and its resources in a better state for future generations.
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