April 03, 2014
Dairy conversions boost for natives
Ngai Tahu Properties is happy at the progress it is making in its $600 million project to turn pine forest into dairy farms.
Chief executive Tony Sewell says after only two years the first three pilot farms are already among the best producers in New Zealand, and the company has won an environmental award for its water management.
He says sustainability is built into everything the tribe does, even if it may cost more in better equipment and information gathering.
The land is being converted as quickly as forest owner Matariki takes its trees away from the Eyrewell Forest across the Waimakariri River from Christchurch.
"We’ve got to the stage where we’ve got out conversion systems, that’s pulling out tree stumps and preparing the land planting grass, putting in the water infrastructure and the fencing, we’ve got that down to a very efficient process and I think the big side of what we’re doing there, because there are 7000 hectares and we now have 3500 hectares cleared and getting into grass, is we have huge water storage lakes, so we are managing our water resource extremely well," Mr Sewell says.
There is only 2 hectares of native bush in the district, so Ngai tahu is letting 150 hectares of the Eyrewell Forest land revert to natives.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH TONY SEWELL CLICK ON THE LINK
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