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Fish & Game has more money lined up for restoring wetlands on private rural land after spending $22 million in a partnership between hunters and landowners.
The organisation’s Game Bird Habitat Stamp programme raises funds for protecting and improving the habitats of game birds and other wildlife. For every game bird hunting licence sold, about $5 goes to the Habitat Trust, which reviews funding applications for wetland projects.
Chief executive Corina Jordan said funding was available for farmers to support wetlands on their properties through the stamp sales.
"Essentially our hunters are acting as conservationists restoring wetlands. We’ve only got about 10% remaining of our wetlands, so it’s one of our most vulnerable habitats we have across New Zealand.
"What we know is that [wetlands provide] central habitats for not only game birds, but other indigenous species, flora and fauna.
"[They’re] great on farm for managing or mitigating activities of the farm, and a key part of the environment for looking at climate change adaption and flood management as well."
About $150,000 is available this year, with applications closing at the end of June.
Many rural landowners were hunters as well, Ms Jordan said.
She said the initiative had criteria to create game bird hunting opportunities, but also to simply provide habitats.
"We would like to see hunting opportunities provided, and most rural landowners are really keen to support hunters coming on and enjoying that environment and hunt themselves with them."
There seemed to be a growing movement among farmers and rural communities to restore wetlands, she said.
"Farmers are generally looking at their waterways with a sort of different lens and understanding the values of them in their natural state and how to manage them while having a productive, profitable farming business."
They wanted to restore areas by putting riparian vegetation back in and managing critical source areas, and were looking at retiring slopes or areas around them, she said.
Previously, Fish & Game had clashed with farmer groups.
The organisation was keen to take a partnership approach, but had a function to advocate for the environment, and if there were challenges around agriculture it still needed to talk about them, Ms Jordan said.
"In a way this brings communities together, and from our perspective the most effective way to get great outcomes — that’s community, social, cultural and environmental outcomes — is through collaborative approaches.
"One of the best approaches we’re seeing unfolding across New Zealand is catchment communities, and it’s really something we want to champion and partner with."
Ms Jordan was the North Island general manager for Beef + Lamb New Zealand before taking on the Fish & Game role last year.
"I generally feel like I have a foot on either side of that fence, but I really don’t think there’s a fence there anymore, and it’s mostly about having those connections and being able to bring people together.
"Often I find people have the same values — especially with hunters who are generally rural-minded individuals — and sometimes it’s just a little about translation."
The opening season was mixed, with some hunters getting their bag limits, but water fowl numbers were high after a wet spring and summer had brought about perfect breeding conditions.
Paradise and mallard duck populations had to be maintained so they did not get to nuisance levels for landowners, she said.
