Whenua

Land

Southlanders are ensuring current land use enables their desired future vision of Murihiku Southland.

Land

The Murihiku Southland region is the second largest in Aotearoa New Zealand and covers an area (3.2m ha).

Just over half (58%) of the region is managed as conservation estate predominantly within the Rakiura and Fiordland National Parks. Farmland occupies 85% of the non-conservation land and of that, about 890,681 ha is classified as pastoral lands, predominantly supporting sheep and beef or dairy farming.

Between 1996 and 2018, most land cover classes have decreased in area; exotic forest, cropping/horticulture, and urban areas being the exceptions, all of which have increased. A steady decline in indigenous forest, tussock grassland, and other herbaceous vegetation (mainly wetlands) is also evident, as the land is continually developed (lawa.org.nz).

The rural sector is the backbone of our regional economy and is currently facing a number of significant challenges. Numerous reports and surveys consistently validate these issues which are causing people to leave the industry or make different choices about how to use their land.

The ability to grow crops in a manner that limits nutrient losses, addresses water quality and water scarcity, all without any harmful chemical residues, presents exciting opportunities for the agricultural sector. New crops can act as a catalyst driving land-use changes especially where there are significant constraints affecting existing farm systems

Forestry is an important industry for the region, especially noting the significance of biological carbon sequestration in forests as an offset for the region’s carbon. There is untapped potential for greater value-added processing in the forestry sector.

Next Steps

Recommend

In Progress

"That there is continued investigation into new crops which can be a catalyst driving land-use changes including the Murihiku Southland Food and Fibre Investment Acceleration Project."

  • Seven key focus areas were identified in this project: on-farm energy and biomass technology, niche food and fibre enterprises, local markets via food and beverage tourism, industrial hemp, regional processing solutions, industrial food ingredients, and precision fermentation. The next phase involves developing blueprints or discussion documents for these focus areas which will be driven by Thriving Southland.

In Progress

"That there is coordinated rural sector leadership to support farmers through regulatory change and in particular increased support for the Southland Rural Support Trust."

  • The Southland Rural Support Trust continues to assist rural individuals and their families to get back on their feet following challenging circumstances such as financial, personal or climatic adverse events.  

In Progress

"In partnership with forestry companies, the following process is undertaken:

That all councils jointly develop in partnership, the policy direction considering carbon forestry and that these are fed through relevant regional and district plans including the Southland Regional Policy Statement, the Water and Land Plan and District Plans. These will consider wider existing and proposed legislation including (NPS Highly Production Land; NES Plantation Forestry; NPS Freshwater and Biosecurity Act)."

In Progress

"In partnership with forestry companies, the following process is undertaken:

That policy settings be considered and incorporated into the RMA reforms and Spatial Planning and Natural Built Environment processes to prevent the creation of carbon forest planting on productive farmlands and areas such as flood paths and secondary flow channels, or in areas subject to instability."

Advocate

In Progress

"For Government regulation and policy to consider the development of carbon forestry on appropriate land and not at the expense of productive farmlands. This also includes consideration of:

  • Amendments to the Emissions Trading Scheme. 
  • Amendments to the Conservation Act. 
  • A review of Overseas Investment Office decision making.
  • The development of carbon forestry on appropriate land and not at the expense of productive farmlands."

 

Other Workstreams