The Hakataramea Sustainability Collective (HSC) successfully applied for action plan funding allocated by the Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury Zone Committee of Environment Canterbury (Ecan) to continue delivering an education programme and native plant nursery that are driving landscape-level change.
Established in 2017, the Hakataramea Sustainability Collective (HSC) focuses on environmental management across the remote 890sq km catchment, which is a significant area of native biodiversity.
According to the HSC, the heart of its drive is education.
"Our dream for this was to have a place where our tamariki and the wider community could learn about biodiversity specific to our catchment, because it is such a unique environment," HSC chairwoman Juliet Gray said in an Ecan statement this week.
Previous water zone committee support in 2022 enabled the HSC to plan and create a community plant nursery at the local school, where students could learn how to propagate local native plant species.
"Through that funding, we’ve been able to create a really great space down there where students can learn about biodiversity and also about the importance of giving back to a community."
She said it was important for a community to be willing to get stuck in and lend a hand when it came to a rural community like Hakataramea.
"In a community like this, everything is run on volunteer hours."
The latest support would mean the HSC could continue to increase wider understanding of biodiversity and its importance, through workshops, field days and educational resources.
It would enable them to maintain and develop the native plant nursery, and support Waitaki Valley School to achieve Enviroschool status.
The HSC had other new projects in the works including the development of an integrated catchment environmental plan specific to the valley, and a biosecurity project to reduce weed and animal pest burden within the catchment.
Alongside these projects was the trial of a small commercial arm of the plant nursery the HSC hoped would eventually fund its maintenance.
"We aim to use local expertise to deliver the education programme where we can and encourage the wider community to help spread the learning.
"It’s about enabling students and the wider community to take their learning home where they can teach their family and friends."
