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 national organisation, focused on community-led sustainable land and water management, is one of over 200 organisations in New Zealand to achieve this status.
To achieve certification, NZ Landcare Trust underwent a full audit of its greenhouse gas inventory, established reduction targets, pathways and plans, and compensated remaining emissions.
NZ Landcare Trust chief executive Nick Edgar says the organisation has worked hard to lower its emissions and reach carbon neutrality.
“We are an organisation that is focused on improving landcare and water quality and achieving net carbonzero certification is part of our commitment to this,” Edgar says.
“It has been a whole team approach – learning about our carbon footprint and ways to offset this,” he adds.
Edgar says the organisation has adopted a number of different ways of working to achieve the target, including using electric vehicles where possible, taking advantage of air travel emission contribution programmes to offset carbon generated from travel, additional plantings, and the use of carbon neutral supplies.
“Toitū means to ‘sustain continually’. We will continue our journey to reduce our environmental impact and regenerate our environment,” he says.
For the 2021/22 year, NZ Landcare Trust’s remaining emissions were 42.67 tCO2e, which were predominantly indirect emissions from travel.
Under the Toitū certification programme, organisations can offset (compensate) remaining emissions by investing in approved conservation projects that have measurable climate mitigation outcomes.
NZ Landcare Trust has invested in two conservation projects – the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative at Spray Point Station in Marlborough and the Amayo Phase II Wind Power Project in Nicaragua. Both projects address the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land) and while the Amayo Phase II Wind Power Project also addresses Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education), 7 (Affordable Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
