Farm Biodiversity Programme

Empowering landowners to manage and enhance on-farm biodiversity.

Banks Peninsula, with its breathtaking landscapes, diverse ecosystems and precious wildlife, has long captured the hearts of those who farm here.

The Peninsula is an ecological meeting point where native species, characteristic of the lands to the north, south and west, can be found living in uniquely close quarters.

The wide range of microclimates and growing environments familiar to farmers on the Peninsula are also responsible for this remarkable diversity of native species – birds, fish, seaweed, trees, lizards, invertebrates, shrubs, grasses, vines and herbs.

This biodiversity has significant environmental, social, cultural and economic value.

Much of the native remnant ecosystems are embedded within a matrix of primary production. Wildlife species move across this landscape, from mountaintop to low country, through coastal margin and the Canterbury Plains, traversing bush and forested areas, coastlines, streams, lakes and wetlands, seeking food, shelter and breeding areas and finding solace from the seasons and weather patterns.

Many of our treasured native birds – kereru, bellbirds, tui and piwakawaka – spend considerable time thriving in our farmed environments. Other species however, like riflemen, lizards and beetles, struggle to cross large, open stretches of land that offers little native cover or protection from pests and predators. Springs, streams and rivers, critical for human production and settlement, are also critical for biodiversity.

About the Programme:

The Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust was established by farmers in 2001. Our Farm Biodiversity Programme builds on this long association with the rural sector and recognises the efforts of the farming community to interweave good farming practices with biodiversity enhancement.

The programme is designed to empower farmers to manage and enhance biodiversity in a way that contributes to their farm’s productivity and profitability.

Farmers, and farming groups, who participate in the programme will receive expert planning advice, user-friendly biodiversity monitoring tools, knowledge resources to help them better understand their local ecosystems, and a clear plan of targeted action to help improve their on-farm indigenous biodiversity.

Importantly, the programme integrates with the existing farming system and provides farmers with useful evidence of the impact their land management is having on biodiversity outcomes.

Benefits:

Enhanced productivity and profitablity - through multi-purpose land management planning (e.g., mitigation of nutrient, sediment and bacterial load in waterways through restoration of wetlands with plants and features capable of boosting biodiversity.)
Advice on accessing government funding for fencing gullies, wetlands and other landscape features that make mustering difficult, but have great potential biodiversity value.
Evidence of excellent biodiversity management, which is useful for farm assurance programmes, industry standards, and regulatory compliance
Improved ecosystem services – things like soil moisture, water quality, land stability and extended flowering seasons. This benefits primary production values and human wellbeing.
The Banks Peninsula farming community is recognised as a model for agricultural management, one that promotes the wellbeing of indigenous biodiversity for the benefit of the wider community.
Landscape-scale benefits are realised when groups of farmers are supported to work together at a catchment level.
Developing resilience to a changing climate will benefit the farming operation, biodiversity and the community - for now and the future.

Programme Offering:

Our Farm Biodiversity Programme can be tailored to best suit the needs of your farming operation. Our team will work alongside you and create a structured programme for you. This approach includes:

Introductory: we run Farm Biodiversity workshops at a catchment level – this is a great way to listen and learn in a group setting so you get a feel for what the programme could offer you. These events are free of charge.

Intermediate: this entails an on-farm visit, during which we undertake a native biodiversity stocktake, we map farm areas, undertake freshwater eDNA monitoring, and provide advice on how the programme could benefit your farming operation.

Comprehensive: we develop a detailed Farm Biodiversity Plan, with prioritised actions for biodiversity management, monitoring tools, and a subscription to an online farm-specific biodiversity platform. You also receive ongoing personal support from our team.

Catchment Group Support: we provide ecological advice and access to our monitoring tools, including a catchment-scale biodiversity platform for groups of farmers working together on catchment management and projects.

Future resources and support: As our Farm Biodiversity Programme matures, we intend to share the biodiversity data that we gather. Participants in the programme will be able to access biodiversity trends and outcomes of improved management practices and have access to a biodiversity monitoring suite.