Erosion Control Planting Season Lifts Off

Erosion control planting is well underway with the first of the season's bundles of poplar and willow poles flown onto Wairarapa hill country farms today. Greater Wellington Regional Council's Land Management team will see 30,000 trees put in over the next four months as they work alongside landowners on erosion control programmes aiming to reduce sediment loss to waterways, keep topsoil on the land, prevent land slips and to moderate flood risk.

"The season is on target, with recent rain softening the ground enough to begin operations.  The full order book tells us that farmer's confidence is returning and our planting teams are prepared for an extremely busy winter planting season ahead," said Scott Ihaka, Land Management Team Leader.

Poplar and willow planting programmes are a core part of erosion control operations. GWRC has been committed to growing species for the region's specific soils and climatic conditions through the Akura Conservation Centre for over thirty years.  The centre grows a range of trees for erosion control planting, shelter belt, wood lot and forestry, as well as supplying a  range of native and regionally eco-sourced plants, trees and grasses for restoration, commercial and residential planting.

Greater Wellington Regional Council administers the Ministry for Primary Industries' Hill Country Erosion Fund (HCEF), regionally and will allocate $1.15 million over the next 4 years through the Wellington Regional Erosion Control Initiative (WRECI).  Criteria for WRECI funding extended last year to include all high priority erosion prone land across the Wairarapa hill country and the Ruamahanga River catchment.

ENDS

Contact: Media phone: 021 914 266

Notes to Editors

• Nationally* annual costs associated with hill country erosion are estimated at $100 million to $150 million from loss of soil and nutrients, lost production, damage to houses, fences, roads, phone, and power lines, damage to waterways.
• Heavy rain and other adverse weather events can increase the risk of erosion in the hill country. Erosion leads to flooding, which in turn can devastate farm production. Under heavy rainfall, up to 10% of erosion-prone land under pasture can be lost. *https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/88m-erosion-grants-awarded
• The Wellington Regional Erosion Control Initiative was established in 2009 through central government funding as a response to 2004 flood events in the lower North Island.
  3. Erosion control work under WRECI previously focused on five areas within the Wairarapa Hill country: Awhea/Opouawe, Upper Taueru, and Whareama catchments, the coastal area around Flatpoint and isolated hotspots.