Ecology project dispelling tensions

Those levels of tension can vary; sometimes the ecologists are farmers, says Robinson, the co-op’s director of sustainability and social policy. But the joint Fonterra and Department of Conservation (DoC) scheme called Living Water is bridging the divide in the five catchments where it is operating.

“On the surface it seems farmers and ecologists have contradictory goals but they can be complementary,” Robinson told Dairy News. 

“We want to ensure we’ve got thriving dairying communities and thriving communities off the back of that, and the healthy environment that as Kiwis we all love.

“A common goal is a great way to break down potential conflicts. Not all the conversations are easy but they are productive and forward looking and exciting in the opportunity it represents.”

Robinson says each Living Water catchment has farmers who are highly passionate about the scheme and do much interaction themselves. DoC and their networks have come to appreciate what Fonterra farmers have been doing behind the farmgate for many years in sustainable dairy practices. 

“It is impressive stuff. Likewise we have been able to look at what DoC is doing and try to get the best of both worlds.”

Robinson says a common vision and purpose were crucial in drawing together the traditional camps and ensuring communication progressed through any obstacles.

“It is really exciting to start to hear the conversations happening for the coming year of the programme. I feel we will gain momentum. I am excited and optimistic about it and I am sure the DoC team will say the same.”

Fonterra and DoC started talking to see how they could work together on the ecology in 2012 and the next year signed a 10 year agreement with $20 million funding from Fonterra.

The core concept of the partnership between Fonterra farmers and the DoC is how sustainable dairying can work within healthy functioning ecosystems. 

Work has begun in five key catchments where DoC and Fonterra have done historical work. The catchments are Hikurangi in Northland, Miranda on the Firth of Thames and three peat lakes in Waikato – Areare, Ruatuna  and Rotomanuka. Those lakes feed into the Waikato River. In the South Island there is Te Waihora/Lake Elsemere and Waituna Lagoon in Southland.

Fonterra works with DoC and various community groups, councils, iwi or other stakeholders already doing work in those areas. “We make an impact alongside that and look at what will make a difference in sustainable dairying and healthy functioning ecosystems,” says Robinson.

The first years have focussed on the objectives of all parties in each area and trying to connect those together and doing baseline studies to get good data to test whether a difference is being made.

“Fonterra and DoC are conscious we don’t want this to be some sort of token tree planting exercise. We want genuine measures and reporting to show we are making progress in key biodiversity metrics within those catchments. You can’t do that until you know what your baseline is. 

“We are also using these catchments to trial stuff, so we might look at an artificial wetland in one area and we want to measure the impact of that because we want to see if it’s worth rolling that out across catchments, what kind of catchments it works on and so on.”

Much of the work is innovative.

Robinson says Fonterra and Doc wanted to start with significant water bodies, “certainly ones that had biodiversity challenges or environmental challenges and were close to significant dairying.

“We are trying to crack the challenge we have as a country [to get] both of them working together.”  The five chosen meet the criteria. “All of them are valuable and significant water bodies to stakeholders, particularly to iwi in those regions and land owners and councils.

“They are a starting point and we will start doing more in the future. We want to get our feet on the ground with these ones and get them going well and then look to extend beyond that if and when it makes sense.”

A good proportion of the work is beyond the farmgate. “It can only be behind the farmgate if it’s over and above what farmers are and should be doing themselves anyway,” Robinson says. “This work doesn’t fund farmers doing sustainable dairying in their own right. We have another programme that works for farmers behind the farmgate which supports them in sustainable dairying. 

“The programme builds on that and looks at, say, farmers retiring land or building a wetland on their property. They don’t have to do that – it is not in the conditions of supply, but we might work with them to do that because there are significant benefits well beyond the farmgate.”

Riparian planting is a key component, education and workshops on wetland construction, habitat restoration, removing pest plants. 

In some areas they look at the potential removal of pest fish, work on how water flows through catchments and how to reduce nutrient-rich water runoff into waterways. 

With a steering committee of senior people from both organisations and a technical working group, a number of DoC staff and Fonterra farmers and employees are involved. Wider networks are called in when required. 

Learnings out of the initiative will be taken elsewhere by both Fonterra and DoC. 

“At each of the catchments we are learning all the time.  One of the big learnings for the team has been how much work is already going on in these catchments. 

“These are big challenges and opportunities we’ve got; cooperation across multiple parties in the catchment is extremely powerful.  There has been a lot going on already but when you can start to bring in landowners, iwi and the community to look at solutions together it gets exciting.

“There’s a lot of optimism and hope that we can enhance the work already being done in the community by many players.”

DoC works with co-op

The Living Water conservation partnership with Fonterra is a good example of DoC working deliberately with others to grow conservation, says DoC spokesman Geoff Ensor.

“DoC has always worked with others, but our commitment to partnerships like [this one with] Fonterra is based on our belief that successful businesses and strong conservation outcomes are integral to New Zealand’s future.” 

Living Water recognises the environmental importance of wetlands which “play a significant role in the storage and purification of water, help reduce flooding and soil erosion and provide a home for native wildlife and plants,” Ensor says.

“So far Living Water has focused on bringing together all the parties connected to each of the five catchments. This has included local dairy farmers, iwi living in and connected to the catchments, local communities, conservation groups and councils.

“We’re delighted with the buy-in we’re getting from the stakeholders in each catchment to the Living Water programme.     

“We’re also assembling baseline data for each catchment to lay a solid foundation for our work programme. This data will enable us to measure how effective our work is in improving water quality and increasing the variety and abundance of habitats and native wildlife in each Living Water catchment.”