More than 280 people across the sector gathered at the NZ Landcare Trust Catchment Forum last week to celebrate the important work done by catchment community groups to enhance their environment.
The two-day NZ Landcare Trust Catchment Forum held in Wellington, brought together a range of people interested in catchment groups to celebrate the progress groups are making whilst also learning from experts.
Attendees were a mix of farmers, catchment members, iwi, government, rural professions and more.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is a Gold Sponsor of the event. Charles Taituha, B+LNZ’s Māori Agribusiness Advisor, shared his advice on how catchment groups can work with tangata whenua and mana whenua.
Minister Damien O’Connor and Minister David Parker both presented during the event and commended the important work catchments are doing to transition to more sustainable land use.
Key topics included water reforms; integrated farm and catchment planning; how catchment groups are addressing the climate challenge; how to work with tangata whenua and mana whenua and more.
Tom Orchiston, B+LNZ’s Environment Capability Manager for the South Island, leads B+LNZ’s Catchment Community Programme. He says, “there was a really positive atmosphere. It was fantastic to meet people and groups B+LNZ have been supporting on their catchment journey and hear about the positive impact they are making in their communities.”
Laura Watson from the Waimatā Catchment Group attended the forum. She says, “It was an incredible experience to be in a room with 300+ attendees from government, council, iwi, farmers and catchment group backgrounds and everyone was working towards improving environmental outcomes across the country.
“It was a great opportunity to share ideas, knowledge and aspirations for our catchment projects, I left feeling very excited for the future of catchment management opportunities in New Zealand.”
This event was supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and sponsors included B+LNZ, Fonterra, Overseer, DairyNZ and NIWA.
Learn more about the event on the NZ Landcare Trust website.
B+LNZ’s Catchment Community Programme
B+LNZ’s Catchment Community programme is designed to support farmers in taking a leadership role to establish or run catchment groups.
Learn more about the programme on B+LNZ’s website.
L-R: Tom Orchiston (B+LNZ’s Environment Capability Manager – South Island), Charles Taituha (B+LNZ’s Māori Agribusiness Advisor), and Sarah Crofoot (B+LNZ’s Environment Integration Lead).
On the left is Charles Taituha (B+LNZ’s Māori Agribusiness Advisor) on stage during a panel discussion.