A collective solution to a collective issue

For the past 15 years, farmers have generally tackled compliance, environmental and social problems by themselves, occasionally engaging the help of a consultant. However, the issues arising in our environment is not from a single activity but a collection of activities. The Essential Freshwater Package has initiated a change, with a focus on catchment context and catchment management.

We have all heard the saying a problem shared, is a problem halved. And that is how we should look at the environmental challenges we are facing now and in the future. The issues arising in our catchments are complex, with limited resources, especially within our councils. An integrated, strategic approach is important to ensure that efforts are as effective as possible. There is a number of different names for this approach:

-           Integrated Catchment Management

-           Catchment Community Groups

-           Catchment Groups

Buy-in from multiple parties is imperative.

Whatever you want to call them, they are all a holistic approach to managing natural resources.  Ensuring that resource management issues are not considered in isolation but in an integrated plan that considers the environmental, social and economic impacts of activities in the catchment. These environmental planning approaches are not new to some.  Groups such as the Pomahaka Water Care Group and the Waituna Land care Group are working to improve the quality of the waterbodies within their catchments, and have proven that Catchment Management is effective in resolving shared issues.

There is often a multitude of issues and objectives that need to be identified and addressed within catchments with many stakeholders. Buy-in from other parties, including tangata whenua, local community, environmental groups, businesses, national and local government agencies, and visitors is imperative. Their impact on the catchment can be varied, with different aspirations, knowledge, perspectives, needs, and priorities.

A full range of skills is required to manage catchments including engineering, science, economics, strategic thinking and planning, facilitation, negotiation, and communication. How to integrate these different disciplines is challenging and can be in conflict with each other, as they are by nature different. They require different skill sets and rarely sit within one person (K. Morresy, & C. Hellberg, Auckland Regional Council).

At the AgriBusiness Group we are focused on  connecting and empowering farmers and local communities, helping to  accelerate catchment restoration and support communities to achieve their environmental aspirations.

To find out more about catchment management and the services that The AgriBusiness Group offers, have a chat with Amelia Wood.