A partnership worth protecting

New Zealand’s landowners - farmers, growers, iwi and hapū and community groups - are passionate about managing our precious land sustainably and the Kaipara Moana Remediation (KMR) initiative is testament to that.

In just four years, KMR has grown from 35 farmers, growers and landowners to well over 1,000. We are now one of the largest catchment groups in the country. We are also the largest harbour restoration initiative in New Zealand, with a goal of protecting and restoring the Kaipara Harbour, the largest natural harbour in the Southern Hemisphere.

Our growth has been phenomenal. Since we began four years ago, KMR has continued to scale up and that success is largely due to our partnership approach – partnership with a diverse range of landowners, groups and over 20 partner organisations, supported by co-investment and underpinned by demonstrated expertise.

KMR’s long-term goal is to halve sediment losses from the land into the Kaipara harbour. To date, over 150,000 hectares are managed under KMR plans. That has resulted in protection of over 1,500km of river and stream corridors, 45km of coastline, nearly 300ha of wetland margins and 325ha of remnant forest.  To date, nearly 2.8 million plants are in ground or contracted to be planted this coming winter.

KMR is a highly collaborative initiative, founded by the Crown, Kaipara Uri (Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri o Hau), Auckland Council and Northland Regional Council. Our strategic partners, including Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ), add momentum to KMR’s success.

Since KMR began four years ago, landowners and communities across the 640,000-hectare Kaipara Moana catchment have faced many challenges, particularly the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Responding to these impacts also helps landowners meet increasing market and consumer demands for environmental sustainability.

Those on the land are often passionate about leaving their farms in better condition for future generations.  Many of the farmers and growers KMR work with are also increasingly aware of the benefits of taking care of their soils and local waterways but knowing where and how to start – and how they will fund the work – is not always clear-cut. KMR makes it easy by providing grant funding to support on-farm projects, matching costs 50-50 to help landowners and groups to undertake projects.

Equally important is KMR’s on-the-ground support, free technical advice and plan development.  Our hugely experienced team take time to listen to the aspirations of the landowners working with us, walk the land with them, and develop a plan to unlock KMR grant funding to implement priority projects on the farm.

We see further benefits coming from working with KMR in future. Right now, we operate as a 100% voluntary initiative. However, freshwater farm plans are coming and the work KMR is doing and the plans we are putting in place with landowners are expected to be compliant with plan requirements.

For instance, for growers, a KMR plan will also provide evidence to support their New Zealand Good Agricultural Practice (NZGAP) Environment Management System (EMS) add-on.

There is also increased resilience for farmers, growers and rural communities in the work that we do together. The combination of fencing, wetland restoration and retirement and either planting or regeneration of vulnerable and erosion-prone areas is so important to help achieve that.

In the past four years, we have seen many of the landowners we work with affected by extreme weather and climate change impacts. By working with KMR experts, those communities are investing in resilience - appropriate protection of riparian margins helps regulate floodwater and reduce damage to fencing and other on-farm infrastructure.

Getting the word out about what KMR does is critical to continuing to scale up and reach more landowners and groups, and that is one of the ways in which our partnerships are so important.

Our collaboration with HortNZ has opened the door to supporting a whole new land group use, expanding KMR’s work to include horticultural landowners.

Through its Growing Change programme, HortNZ works to support growers to achieve farm environmental actions via the development of freshwater farm plans and through the EMS add-on.

Earlier this year, KMR partnered with HortNZ successfully on a pilot project to build resilience across the Northland/Te Tai Tokerau kūmara industry, which was significantly affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other flood events.

HortNZ identified and encouraged kūmara growers to connect with us and we then engaged with them directly to enhance their on-farm practices, improve biodiversity, and demonstrate more sustainable land management outcomes.

The pilot programme in the local drainage districts included fencing and native planting programmes, with the Raupō drainage district and Kaipara District Council involved in peer reviewing the design of planting projects.

Often, growers put sheep on land between crops, so fencing to exclude livestock from waterways is one of the most cost efficient and important actions to protect local water quality.

Horticulture has a big part to play in creating new and additional export value for the economy, not only feeding New Zealanders but also 40 million consumers internationally.  Both market leaders and consumers are increasingly seeking verifiable environmental credentials and Kaipara Moana Remediation is pleased to be able to offer this through our plans and smart digital systems that can be used to demonstrate projects on the ground.

From a long-term perspective, ensuring the defensibility of New Zealand’s exports is key to sustaining the value and growing of overseas markets. Increasingly, global consumers are wanting to know that what they eat has been grown in ways that work with natural ecosystems and protect waterways.

Support of the kind provided by HortNZ is invaluable for raising awareness of KMR’s work and the support we can provide to a wider set of landowners in the catchment. Many farmers and growers may not even realise they are in the Kaipara Moana catchment, because they aren’t near the Kaipara harbour itself.  Some of the land in the catchment is several hours’ drive from the harbour, but what happens on the land in the catchment will – ultimately – affect it.  KMR takes a whole-of-landscape approach, working from the tops of the ridgelines, right down to the harbour’s edge and everything in between.

We operate across both Northland and Auckland regions, over an incredibly diverse catchment.  With over 3,500 landowners with pastoral or horticultural properties of 20ha or more, there is huge potential to work with even more farmers, growers and community groups.

KMR is so proud of the momentum we have built in a relatively short time.  What we have created is essentially a movement – a locally-led movement where farmers, growers and other landowners taking action on the land can add up very fast when everyone is committed. Small projects can still make a significant difference to long-term water quality, biodiversity and flood resilience in local areas.

If you are a HortNZ levy payer, are in the catchment and want to know more about working with KMR, then get in touch with your local regional representative.

When you work with KMR, you will find you are part of something much bigger than yourself. Together, we can make a real difference.

Growing Change is a three-year partnership between HortNZ and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE). Funded through the Essential Freshwater Fund, administered by MfE, it aims to build capacity and capability within the horticulture sector, and enduring support for growers, to deliver GAP freshwater farm plans.

Opinion editorial:  Justine Daw, Pou Tātaki, Kaipara Moana Remediation (KMR)