MAF grants $7.6M for erosion protection

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has allocated two more erosion treatment projects a total of $7.62 million under its Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Hill Country Erosion Fund.

The two successful recipients of the 2010 contestable funding round are Horizons Regional Council and Gisborne District Council. The independently chaired Panel that considers the applications were impressed with proposals from the successful recipients.

“MAF is pleased to be funding these projects and supporting regional councils to work with farmers to protect erosion prone hill country and implement sustainable management practices,” says MAF’s Natural Resources Policy Director, Mike Jebson.

Horizons received the bulk of the funding, with $7,519,000 allocated over five years for the continuation of their Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI). The SLUI aims to protect 108,000 hectares of highly erodible hill country from erosion, as well as protecting the cities of Palmerston North and Wanganui from future flooding.

Gisborne District Council was allocated up to $102,500 over four years to promote soil conservation works to reduce erosion in the upper Waipaoa catchment which is placing the Poverty Bay flats and the city of Gisborne at increased risk of flooding.

The first two years of the project will focus on gaining support for an erosion control initiative which, if successful, will lead to a larger bid to the HCEF to fund its implementation in two years time.

Mr Jebson says the HCEF is a principal component in MAF’s Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Hill Country Erosion Programme. “The Fund provides a great opportunity to support regional initiatives involving community groups and landowners to effectively address erosion and the associated problems of sedimentation and flooding.”

The SLM Hill Country Erosion Fund is an annual contestable fund of $2.2 million which was developed in response to concerns over the sustainability of hill country agriculture, the wider costs of storm events and the need to prepare for climate change.

ENDS

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