100 projects
Trying things out, costing them, and planning how to take them to scale
Living Water: Dairy and freshwater thriving together
Living Water is a partnership between DOC and Fonterra.
Our focus is finding game-changing solutions that will enable
farming, freshwater and healthy ecosystems to thrive side-by-side.
We are working with farmers, scientists, councils, mana whenua
and communities to design and test solutions, and then develop
a plan to implement regionally and nationally.
Our mission
5 regions
Demonstrating dairying and freshwater ecosystems thriving together
1 mission
To build connections which can drive better outcomes for the environment, the economy and New Zealanders
Who are we
With nearly 40% of New Zealand’s land under their care, Fonterra and the Department of Conservation have joined forces to work on the farming and freshwater challenge.
We work on the ground, side by side. We share our expertise and use our collective strengths.
Where we’re working
How we’re working
1
Working towards a common vision of dairy and freshwater thriving together
2
Designing and trialling solutions in five catchments
3
Measuring the impact across 10 years
4
Scaling implementation — the process and cost per farm, per region and for New Zealand
5
Championing change — to mindsets, approaches, systems and aspirations
What we’re up to
We are doers, with the big picture in mind. Check out what we have been up to around New Zealand.
Restoring a Tributary of the Selwyn / Waikirikiri River - Canterbury
Million Metres is in Canterbury! Find out about their latest crowd fund project to restore a section of Silverstream - close to our Living Water and CAREX restoration trial sites. Could this be the beginning of a community movement to restore the Selwyn River?
New Zealand river water quality trends show cause for optimism
We're on the right track: over the past 10 years, more NZ river sites have improved water quality than deteriorated! 💧 (according to a new report on water quality trends from LAWA). “This is a sign that positive actions by central and local Government, landowners, businesses, iwi, and communities are making a difference.”
It’s a jungle out there – our Living Water team wading through Okatairangi wetland as part of monitoring. Because of the dense sub-canopy, it can take up to an hour to move 1km. Read about our projects to improve freshwater ecosystems in Northland here https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/
National Wetland Trust of New Zealand
Fingers crossed our godwits can be provided a meal as they make their epic flight from New Zealand to Alaska via China - where food for them is running very low. Pūkorokoro-Miranda is a New Zealand feeding ground for godwit. Living Water is working with others to protect and expand this habitat, reducing sediment and connecting on-farm biodiversity. https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/pukorokoro-miranda/
Our progress
Our plans, projects, case studies, and reports.
