Seven New Zealand Catchment Groups Awarded Westpac Water Care Grants for 2026
Seven catchment groups across New Zealand have been awarded $10,000 grants as part of the Westpac Water Care Project.
The event will be held October 6-7 at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, following two years of ups and downs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The forum is designed to create attendees to connect, discuss the latest innovations, and celebrate the work being done to transition to more sustainable land use.
Attendees include catchment group leaders and members, farmers, iwi, rural professionals, agribusiness and resource management agencies.
NZ Landcare Trust chief executive Dr Nick Edgar says he is thrilled the event is able to be held after over two years of delays and cancellations.
“The Covid pandemic saw the first event of this kind cancelled only weeks out when it was being held in Invercargill on April 1-2 in 2020. Of course, that saw the whole country head into a never been seen before lockdown,” says Edgar.
He says that after that, with support from the Ministry for Primary Industries and Ministry for the Environment, NZ Landcare Trust looked to take the event to a national setting, choosing Te Papa as its new location.
“We tried to hold it in October 2021, and then we entered another lockdown in August and changes to event regulations were introduced, so it had to be postponed, so we rebooked for May 2022, which again had to be postponed, so to say I am thrilled to see it go ahead in a few days’ time is an understatement!”
“So much work and planning has gone into this event and now it is bigger and better than before – we have amazing speakers from catchment groups and agencies who can inspire and share their work, and their knowledge in catchment management,” says Edgar.
