Hurunui Biodiversity Trust
A special part of living in our district is understanding about the potential biodiversity values or more about the native species which already live here. Unfortunately, some biodiversity potential is set to decline with our rivers becoming increasingly infested with willows, broom and lupins. Native forest and scrub which has recovered since the 1980’s is now going backwards because of the increasing numbers of feral pigs, deer and we see Old Man’s Beard continuing to spread rapidly.
The Hurunui Biodiversity Trust has released its Hurunui Biodiversity Zones of Action Project (HuBZAP) which is an information resource to provide a starting point for working out what to do with biodiversity on a farm or in an area of locality when a group of people would like to work on a project together.
This resource is available to anyone to use, and you can work out.
- What biodiversity is likely to be there?
- What could be established?
- What are the challenges and opportunities to make things better?
To have a chance to assess your part of our district the resource gives you an opportunity to get on board and be part of a framework of something bigger.
The HwBZAP gives us the confidence to make a start, farmers are busy and just want to get an idea of their property and its biodiversity potential, and to make sure they are doing the right thing at a basic level and build from there, and for many properties there are things that can be done to create a better outcome which can fit into an existing farm programme.
The Trust hopes this action focussed approach will create a model which is independent of electoral cycles and changing regulations, and in the long term can provide expert advice to help understand what they have and what they can do and translate meaningful action on the ground.
Parties such as QE11 National Trust, land care or environmental groups and most importantly private landowners can be brought together to facilitate this process.
The Hurunui Biodiversity website is somewhere that you can go, and do some of your own research and find out about the vast amount of local knowledge that is available and make changes where you can. Visit hurunuibiodiversity.org for more information and talk to some key personal that can share their skills and knowledge.
Kia kaha
Marie