Working for the environment
A Northland couple are planting more natives and restoring wetlands as they do their bit for the environment. By Steve Macmillan.
Kaiwakacoupletaniadropulich and Innes Anderson are encouraging fellow sheep, beefanddairyfarmersto partnerwithkaiparamoana Remediation and give the environment a boost.
Together, they run a 211-hectare dairy farm milking 500 cows, alongside a 250ha sheep and beef unit where they finish 200 dairy-beef cross annually, along with 500 lambs. This includes leased land.
Their farm already had 80ha of pristine native bush but they want to do more to develop pockets of natives and enhance wetlands.
When they decided to retire their cut-over pine block and restore it back into permanent indigenous forest, they recognised they needed help.
Teaming up with Kaipara Moana Remediation (KMR) and The Forest Bridge Trust (TFBT), the journey on their Fonterra dairy farm is now under way.
Much of their recently harvested, small pine block is highly erodible and steep.
As a result, any sediment generated from this site during high rainfall events can impact the adjacent Cook Creek that flows down to the Hakaru River, which then flows into the Topuni River, the Ōruawharo River and then into the Kaiparamoana.
They also plan to restore two wetlands on their property and are grateful for the support from KMR, TFBT and Fonterra to bring their restoration project to life, simply because they weren’t sure where to start or what projects to prioritise.
“I would definitely encourage farmers to get on board with KMR and make the time and effort,” says Anderson.
He also says they are passionate in their leaning towards nature.
“Doing this work fits with our values and we were struggling to do it on our own. It is really hard to get it up and running on your own. But there is so much expertise and so many groups and funding options out there – and everybody is talking to each other and collaborating.
“We have always been interested in conservation, so this has always been a desire of ours and it fits with the Fonterra environmental plans. We hope that if people can see us putting this kind of energy into the farm, then it might inspire others to do the same.”
The project is a collaboration with Fonterra sustainable dairy adviser Ben Herbert, who has supported Dropulich and Anderson to secure a KMR fencing grant.
TFBT field adviser Angela Parkin, with additional expertise from KMR’S planting specialist Dave Mcdermott, has helped create the Sediment Reduction Plan outlining the actions needed to assist the natural native regeneration of the cutover pine block, along with the wetland restoration.
Competing daily priorities on-farm make it a challenge for them to take action as they would ultimately like to. However, with access to expertise and grants, they feel supported and empowered to play their part to “do the right thing” to reduce sediment entering those waterways which ultimately impact the Kaipara Moana.
Of the 265ha of land they own, 3.87ha has been retired and is being restored – 3.04ha of eroding cut-over pine block and 0.83ha wetland and riparian margin.
Now that 1.1km of fencing has been put in, almost 5000 native plants will be put in the ground in the winter of 2024 in partnership with KMR and TFFT and with ongoing support from Fonterra.
They hope more planting will be undertaken in 2025.
For Anderson and Dropulich, this is just the start of their journey and they are adamant that much more is possible.
“This area of land is incredibly special to us and the Brynderwyn Range is a highly significant area, so we want to play our part in protecting that and helping preserve the Kaipara Harbour along the way.”
“
We have always been interested in conservation, so this has always been a desire of ours and it fits in with the Fonterra environmental plans. Innes Anderson