​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Alert

Toxic algae warning for the Waiau River, Waihopai River and the Hamilton Burn. Click here for more information.

Contact

Search

Farmers answer call tackle hill country erosion

Jacqui Chamberlain put out the call and her fellow farmers were quick to rally.

Jacqui took a leading role when Environment Southland approached the Orauea River Catchment Group with a plan to investigate hill country erosion in Murihiku Southland.

That led to the development of a pilot project to research what is a significant environmental issue, both nationally and in the south.

Sediment from erosion in hill country areas, like in the Orauea catchment, can have significant impact on water quality, in-stream ecosystems and biodiversity, and its loss can also impact soil quality.

Erosion in hill country areas is estimated to cost New Zealand’s economy between $100-$150 million each year.

There is little wonder why Jacqui found herself at the centre of the project.

While she works as a consultant, she’s actively involved in her family’s farm, West Range Station, a 2300 hectare cattle and sheep station in the Orauea catchment.

Clearly, the Chamberlains have a passion for agriculture and maintaining their land.

As well as being a working farm, the property is something of a shop window for farming in Murihiku Southland, offering farm tours and experiences to international and domestic visitors.

Before embarking on the pilot project, funding was secured from the Ministry for Primary Industries Hill Country Erosion Programme and a strategy and implementation plan was created.

Joining forces with the Orauea River Catchment Group allowed mitigation methods to be trialled with the community on farms in the catchment.

And West Range Station was among the sites where those trials were completed.

The catchment and the group were a great fit for the pilot given the geology in the catchment is known to pose significant erosion risks.

The area is more prone to erosion because of its unusually high amounts of mudstone rock.

But significantly, the group had already undertaken extensive work to understand the problem.

That proactive approach is a reflection of the passion farmers have for their land in the Orauea River catchment.

“A lot of work had already been done by individual farmers. A lot of farmers had already identified areas on their farms that they wanted to fence off or retire and plant in. Some had already planted poplar poles and done a lot of riparian planting.”

And it is why they were so keen to engage with the project.

“In our work before this project we had discovered areas that were prone to erosion, so we were able to put some mitigations in place.”

Mitigation methods were trialled at five farms in the catchment as part of the trial including land retirement, native planting, pole planting for a landslip, and space planting on a slumping hillside.

“When you come out the other side of the project and you see these cool areas planted in natives and poplar poles there is a feel-good factor,” Jacqui says.

A full cost breakdown and review was done after work at each site was completed.

That work has provided Environment Southland with data and knowledge to develop resources to assist farmers in other areas to address hill country erosion.

For farmers in the Orauea River Catchment, they are now armed with the knowledge they need to address the issue.

“We definitely have a good group of farmers within the catchment group who are really proactive.”

It also demonstrated the benefits of taking a group approach to tackling key catchment issues.

“I think individually it can be a bit daunting for farmers to work on things like this,” Jacqui says.

“But in your catchment group, it makes it easier to get on board with these projects.”

“The biggest thing we have found is that there is actually a lot of funding available for projects like this, as well.”

“You might have to hunt around for it, but it is out there.”

You can learn more about the mitigation trials in the Orauea River catchment by heading to www.es.govt.nz/hillcountryerosion .

Share this

Share this page

Sharing...