An entertaining night at the Landcare Awards Dinner culminated in Raglan’s Fred Lichtwark receiving an award at a ceremony packed with fun and emotion. Six awards were presented in recognition of outstanding commitment to both sustainable land management and local communities. In addition, these Landcare Ambassadors possess an ability to inspire others to get involved in ‘action on the ground.’ The winners were announced by NZ Landcare Trust CEO Dr. Nick Edgar and the awards presented by Hon Dr. Nick Smith Minister for the Environment and NZ Landcare Trust Chair Richard Thompson.
Since 1995, Whaingaroa HarbourCare with Fred Lichtwark at the helm have grown and planted 1 million native trees along 450km of streams and harbour edges within the Whaingaroa catchment. This extraordinary work earned Fred a Landcare Ambassador Award. To date, more than 40 farmers have been involved. The good works continue in other parts of the Waikato – several other streams and shallow lakes have also received the Harbour Care treatment. Whaingaroa HarbourCare is an award-winning, successful community project and a national model of riparian management. The methods and successes have been researched by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, World Wide Fund for Nature as well as by several university students. As with many other award recipients Fred is eager to share his knowledge regularly at workshops and conferences around the country.
Another award winner was dairy farmer Sue Brown. Sue and her partner, John Nalder, farm 300 dairy cows Ferntown, Golden Bay, where they’ve lived for 17 years. When nearby cockle and mussel farmers were facing closure due to high E.coli levels in the coastal waters they blamed the dairy industry. Instead of going on the defensive, Sue and her fellow dairying community took action, forming a farmer led catchment project to improve water quality, supported by NZ Landcare Trust. This pioneering work demonstrates how the farming community can take the lead and make improvements to water quality.
Third award winner Doug Avery is a true champion, with the ability to see how changes can provide benefits beyond his own property and gives his time to share knowledge with others so that they too can prosper. On the dryland of the East Coast Doug is Mr Lucerne. He along with the late John Peter recognised the need to adapt to a six year series of droughts in the 1990’s which caused serious erosion. This decision by Doug, John and fellow farmers in the group, led to the introduction of a grazing system that utilised and direct fed Lucerne to improve ewe breeding efficiency maximising lamb growth rates for premium returns. This adaptation was the recipe the group was looking for to stop the erosion and degradation to the saline south Marlborough soils. News of this work rapidly spread attracting the accolade of 2010 ‘South Island Farmer of The Year’ for their work adapting farm management systems in response to increasingly dry conditions.
The next recipient was Andrew Hayes who runs a dairy farm just north of Hamilton. The farm completely surrounds Lake Kaituna and forms a long border with Lake Komakorau. It was clear to Andrew that the lakes were dying and something big needed to be done. Restoration work began in 1999 with willow removal. Fencing out stock, riparian planting, silt trap construction and then a Whole Farm Management and Environment Plan followed. It’s Andrew’s willingness to share his experiences about farming in a sensitive lake catchment that really adds another dimension, with a variety of events regularly taking place on the farm and lake shores. In 2007, the Hayes family were recognised for their outstanding work by the Ministry for the Environment with a Green Ribbon Award for Rural Sustainability.
Another award went to Geoff Crutchley a sheep and beef farmer from the Maniototo with a particular interest in irrigation and water use issues. His involvement with irrigation began in the early eighties and he has been the chairman of the various controlling bodies since that time. In 1997 he instigated the formation of the Maniototo Pest Management Company, and served as a director on the company for 11 years. Geoff was involved in the establishment of the Taieri Trust and was the initial chairperson for three years from 2001. Since 2008 he has chaired the Upper Taieri Water Resource Management Project, which has the primary objective of establishing a whole of catchment, community based model for water allocation and use.
Last but no means least, Helen Moodie and Todd Hamilton received an award for their work founding the Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum over 10 years ago. The WHLF brings together nine Landcare Groups, all working hard to protect the unique environment of the 6000ha Whangarei Heads area and the more than 50 species of threatened plants and animals found there. Helen and Todd have both been fundamental to the success of the WHLF. Their dedication, knowledge, passion and experience along with many many hours of hard work has resulted in some remarkable achievements. In 2001, there were just 80 North Island Brown Kiwi remaining in the Whangarei Heads, and each year this number dropped further. Now it is estimated that there are around 400 kiwi. Whangarei Heads is now one of the very few places in New Zealand where a kiwi population is actually increasing. Infact at Whangarei Heads, kiwi are thriving.
In addition to the awards, diners were entertained by a dynamic display of creativity in the form of a wearable arts show. Sponsors, New Zealand National Fieldays Society presented a series of garments from the Landcare Awareness category of their AgArtWear show.
The dinner took place on Wednesday 29 Feb, following the first day of NZ Landcare Trust’s Landcare and Catchment Management Conference. The two day event has attracted a great deal of very positive feedback, with delegates commenting on the passion and diversity of the speakers and enjoying the opportunity to network with a wide range of people with a shared interest in sustainable land management.
Good job Fred, way to get recognized for having such a positive influence on Raglan and its aquaculture. It’s just too bad you have Nick Smith there, wonder if you could get him to write you a letter to ACC on government letterhead.
To me Fred is a national hero for the work he and his team have done in Raglan. Just imagine the improvement to our national prosperity if we all followed his example!
Certainly some great achievements