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.
Giant kokopu in Waituna Creek get rescued
These beautiful giant kokopu live in Southland's Waituna Creek, a catchment with around 30 Fonterra farms and where Living Water is working on tools for sustainable dairying and healthy freshwater ecosystems - including improving fish habitat. It's pretty wet and muddy now, but a few months ago Southland was so dry that native fish in upper Waituna Creek were dying off, prompting a rescue effort. Thanks Jane Bowen from Department of Conservation / Living Water for this footage of releasing these taonga - click the title above to see video. Check out the work at Waituna creek and lagoon here https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/waituna-lagoon/
Kiwi on farmland in LW catchment
Kiwi thriving on farmland - how cool is that! Congrats to Tānekaha Community Pest Control Group (made up of mostly Fonterra farmers) for their efforts creating a 2900 ha haven for even more kiwi releases. They were one of the first farming groups to successfully get a kiwi translocation approved in Northland. Throughout its life, their project has been supported by Living Water, Northland Regional Council, Department of Conservation, NZ Landcare Trust, Auckland Zoo and Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre -and the area borders Living Water's work in the Okarika pocket https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/okarika-pocket-transformation/
Collective work on Silverstream creek
We love the use of sediment traps in this Canterbury project. This section of stream with Million Metres is close to where Living Water and CAREX are carrying out trials and restoration - together we can achieve much more for these waterways as a community than working solo! Find out about the area: https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/ararira-lii-river/
Rare NZ orchid amidst dairy farms
You can't protect what you don't know - here's the seed pods of a rare New Zealand orchid, the Swamp Leek Orchid, found by our team in Northland's Otakairangi Wetland, surrounded by farmland. In summer this special plant has yellow-green flowers with a very sweet perfume and it survives in some remaining wetlands in the North Island. Here Living Water is monitoring the plants, soil and water to see how rare biodiversity can co-exist with dairy farming. Read more about our work in Northland here https://www.livingwater.net.nz/catchment/wairua-river/
Our progress
Our plans, projects, case studies, and reports.
