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Five Rivers wetlands borne out of passion for planting

As Dot Stevens went quietly about constructing wetlands at her Five Rivers farm, the thought that she was becoming one of her region’s environmental leaders never crossed her mind.

Dot and husband Geoff own a significant farming operation in Northern Southland, beside the Acton Stream, a tributary of the Ōreti River.

The Stevens run sheep and cattle on a mixture of rolling and flat country with a good part of their land leased to surrounding farmers.

The farm has two magnificent, constructed wetlands, spanning around six hectares, with Dot spearheading the efforts to develop them over the past six years.

Dot admits that the resulting boost to water quality and biodiversity wasn’t at the front of her mind when she got stuck in.

While not strictly focused on specific environmental outcomes, undertaking work for the good of the land and the good of those living on it, was at the heart of Dot’s motivation.

All of which has been built on her family’s passion for planting.

“I have always loved planting. Dad was a great planter; he loved planting tree lines all over the farm,” Dot says.

“I just think the aesthetics of having areas planted out is good for the soul.”

Dot’s family has deep roots in the Five Rivers area with their farm originally part of a much bigger farming block that was run by her forefathers, who settled in the Five Rivers area.

The history of the farm is part of the drive behind the work to make improvements, of course combined with Dot’s passion for planting.

“I have lived here my whole life so I want to look after the place,” Dot says.

“But to be honest, I just love trees.”

“And I love wetlands – I don’t know why, I never did when I was young.”

“I think when you have an area planted out, it is just good for the soul.”

Dot also admits there was no grand plan to establish two significant wetlands at the Stevens’ farm.

She and Geoff originally owned a much larger block of surrounding hill country.

Around two decades prior, they had worked to fence significant areas of native vegetation, but that work was halted during the tougher times the farming industry faced.

Following the sale of that land, the Stevens continued to look at improving their property, which included fencing off waterways and establishing riparian plantings. Developing wetlands at the bottom of their hillier country was something Dot was keen to do.

“I used to get annoyed looking out the window, I could see that stocking those areas just wouldn’t work. Where the wetland at the bottom of our hill is, I just thought it would look really cool.”

“It took ages to get things underway; first of all, I got a cattle fence around it.

Then one day I looked out the window and Geoff and the digger man are out there digging two wetland ponds.”

Dot then worked extensively to plant out the wetland in a range of native species.

Looking out over the wetlands at Acton Downs from the nearby rolling hills, you’ll see well-established toi toi, pittosporum, kahikatea, carix and native reeds.

With their two wetlands now in their sixth year, the Stevens can see the improvements in biodiversity they have driven.

A visit to the impressive wetlands at the Stevens’ property may set something of a daunting task for farmers who want to undertake similar work.

But the message from Dot is that it can easily be done, especially by taking small initial steps.

“It doesn’t have to be a big area and you don’t have to do a lot of planting to begin with.”

“To start, you can fence off an area, it will come away and then you can see what you have. You don’t have to rush in and plant the whole area out; you can work away at it over time.”

In early 2025, the couple successfully applied to Environment Southland’s two catchment improvement funds — the Land Sustainability Mitigations Fund and the Southland Native Planting Fund.

Up until this point, the wetlands were funded by the Stevens themselves.

Both funds have been established to assist landowners in undertaking work aimed at improving water quality in Murihiku Southland. Each fund provides assistance, matched by landowners on a 50-50 basis.

After being successful in their applications, the Stevens can now action their plans for further plantings, fencing, and maintenance at their wetlands.

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