Land damage ‘horrifying’

The native dry-land ecosystem of the Mackenzie country has been seriously damaged by intensive agriculture, according to a new Government report.

Environmental advocacy group Forest and Bird called the situation in Mackenzie ‘‘horrifying’’.

The Our Land report released by Statistics NZ and the Ministry for the Environment notes the unique climate of the Mackenzie, with low rainfall, extreme temperatures, and stony and infertile soil producing unique plants. ‘‘Many are found nowhere else, with special features to allow them to survive in these harsh conditions, like being low growing or leafless.

‘‘The basin is also home to eight threatened bird species and rare native moths, butterflies, fish, and other animals.’’

The report says the tenure review process in the 1990s, which gave farmers the opportunity to buy portions of their land with the balance set aside for conservation, meant the land in the Mackenzie ‘‘has fewer constraints on its management and can be farmed more intensively and profitably’’.

‘‘Large areas of land on the basin floor became freehold and by 2020, less than one-tenth of the land below 800 metres had any form of protection.

‘‘This, however, is where most of the threatened plants and animals are located.’’

The report also laid out how irrigation has ‘‘had the most profound effect’’ on the Mackenzie.

‘‘In less than 15 years (2003–18), the area of intensified land more than doubled.’’

This change was exacerbated by the switch from sheep to more profitable dairy farming in the region. ‘‘The basin’s first dairy farm opened near Twizel in 2003 using pivot irrigators.

‘‘These machines require land to be flattened and seeded with grass, which removes all the native dry-loving plants.’’

The report also says that by 2018 only one-third of the 25,000 hectares with active irrigation consents had been irrigated, so ‘‘there is potential for further intensification’’.

Forest & Bird regional manager Nicky Snoyink said ‘‘it’s entirely appropriate that the Our Land report focused on the Mackenzie basin – this iconic New Zealand landscape is in the process of being destroyed by farming intensification’’.

‘‘Drylands are New Zealand’s most threatened ecosystems; the Mackenzie was never an appropriate place for irrigation and wide-scale dairy. That it happened at all is horrifying, but

what’s worse is that this trainwreck isn’t over yet – there are areas that are still dryland, but which have irrigation consents granted over them.’’

Snoyink said all agencies involved ‘‘are responsible with weak council rules and privatisation of land through tenure review, which has tended to privatise the rarest ecosystems. Land Information New Zealand has also allowed inappropriate development on areas that remain as crown pastoral leases.’’

The report says that change is happening, with the government tightening consent requirements in 2017, which prevented land at 56 sites of natural significance from being further intensified or converted for agriculture, as well as ending tenure review in 2019, and setting up initiatives like Tu¯ Te Rakiwha¯noa Drylands and the Mackenzie Basin Agency Alignment Programme to protect the region’s ecosystems.

However, Snoyink said those initiatives have had an ‘‘ongoing lack of commitment’’ which is ‘‘disappointing’’. ‘‘What we need now is for the government to pass a strong Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill to better manage the remaining crown pastoral leases and for the Mackenzie District Council to protect native plants and animals.’’