The group has a special status as the voice for catchment groups and communities across New Zealand and has had government support to form. ANZCC hosted their inaugural AGM in September after which Ben Ensor was elected.
Ensor is a sheep and beef farmer in Cheviot and is highly regarded for his role as chair of the Hurunui District Landcare Group, a catchment collective in Canterbury that has been running for nine years. It has 300 members, mainly farmers running dryland hill country farms covering 320,000 hectares.
Ensor joined the ANZCC working group last year, as it moved towards its official formation. The parent body is made up of members representing 250 catchment groups from around New Zealand. The groups combined cover over 6 million hectares.
"I'm really encouraged that members of the Catchment Communities are drawn from so many corners of New Zealand and diverse landscapes too," Ensor said.
"It shows that catchment groups want to continue to be part of the solution to the challenges we face as a country, such as freshwater, biodiversity, and climate change," he said.
Ensor said that initial ANZCC research has shown better alignment of objectives and outcomes for those funding catchment group work is required. For example, the funding cycle is typically two to three years but the social and environmental goals are far more long-term.
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"This leads to a focus on short-term activities such as water testing or trees planted, rather than longer term outcomes, such as water quality improvement or habitat restoration for improved biodiveristy.
"With funding and regulation, there is often a single-issue focus, which may or may not be a problem in all areas. Catchment communities understand their landscapes and take an integrated approach."
ANZCC has a board and the have agreed on the organisation's purpose, Ensor said.
It will advocate nationally for continued support of catchment communities to foster place-based, community-led change with longer term goals.
"Over the coming months we will be working closely with government, funders and other primary sector organisations to start on this," Ensor said.
"Leading farmers and innovators are already doing good work and this should be incentivised so they are supported to go faster, showing pathways for others to adapt in their communities."
