Storm chaos triggers mass planting

ENVIRONMENT: How an awards dinner inspired pair frustrated by continual bad weather to do something.

Below, Sue Meszaros and Karyn Maddren jointly manage Streamland Suffolks.

When the community comes together to plant 3000 trees on a neighbour’s property, it’s the beginning of something special. For Sue Meszaros and Karyn Maddren of Streamland Suffolks in Ahuroa, inland from Warkworth, north of Auckland, it was a sign that their initiative to create an Arapa¯rera River catchment group within the local community was on the right track.

Sue and Karyn jointly manage the 68ha Streamland Suffolks property that is home to their sheep stud business.

Since the beginning of their farming journey, taking care of the environment has always been important, they say.

However, a long period of bad weather and land damage left everyone in their valley quite frustrated.

Hearing the story of South Kaipara Landcare group at the Auckland Ballance Farm Environment Awards dinner in March last year, shortly after Cyclone Gabrielle, sparked the idea they could do something similar.

“We were really inspired,” Meszaros said.

“It was always in the back of our minds that it was something we wanted to do, but then to see it in action spurred us on to run with the idea.”

Hard on the heels of the decision to get started, however, more bad weather swept across the top of the North Island, flooding rivers and triggering landslips.

Rather than being daunted by the events, Meszaros and Maddren realised they could tap into the sentiment of the valley as people felt strongly that something needed to be done to address the flooding problem.

“We decided to go ahead with the catchment idea and push it forward, and make it happen,” Meszaros said.

The fledgling group has taken its first steps, planting ma¯ nuka trees donated by the Kaipara Moana Remediation programme.

Already 3000 seedlings have been planted in paddocks above a massive slip on the property of an 83-year-old farmer in the region; another 500 plants were planted on the Streamland Suffolks property and a further 500 on another farm within the catchment.

Meszaros said it was “the Goldilocks catchment” — neither too big nor too small.

“We are a bit different from a typical rural catchment in that our farms are smaller, and there are a significant number of lifestyle block holders.

“There are a lot of people who work in Auckland but live out here.”

This mix of city and country brought its own challenges, she said.

“As lifestyle-blockers, they don’t necessarily have the vested interest we do, but they do see and understand their role in having a healthy catchment.”

Meszaros and Maddren believed the region’s diversity was a bonus, as people working in Auckland had citybased networks they could bring to the region to help plant trees, join on field days or get stuck into clearing scrub out of the river.

“Just understanding how hard farmers work, where their food comes from, everything that, once people in cities understand about rural life, will help bring everyone together within the catchment boundaries,” Meszaros said.

For Meszaros and Maddren, overcoming the anxiety, grief and fear that still lingers through the community is key in taking the next steps to cherish and protect the river, now and into the future.

A recent workshop on river morphology helped the community to better understand how rivers “live and breathe”.

Meszaros said the river was a beautiful asset that should be a catalyst

Sue Meszaros (left) and Karyn Maddren were inspired by a talk from South Kaipara Landcare group at the Auckland Ballance Farm Environment Awards last year.

— Sue Meszaros

for positive change for the future.

“A fundamental outcome of forming the catchment group is to maintain a healthy, clean river.”

So, while few community events happen in the region now, Meszaros and Maddren were optimistic about how the future would evolve with the catchment group.

“Once people start coming together, there is the potential for so much more,” Meszaros said.

The local fire station was the venue for a recent community dinner, attended by over 100 people, so things were starting to come together.

The group is close to submitting its application to be registered as a society, which formalises the catchment group.

Then it’s setting up a website, and finding the best ways to communicate with a diverse audience.

There is a 20-strong steering group doing the initial work, but once set up the wider community will be invited to get involved.

“A healthier river means a healthier community,” Maddren said.

“We see healthier people, a stronger, more vibrant community, and an active, busy community.”

And that’s because while the catchment group will be looking after the river and the surrounding valley, at its heart the group is really about the community.

“It’s the people we will be looking after,” Meszaros said.

“If we look after them, we’ll have a healthy river catchment. They go hand-in-hand.”

Sue Meszaros and Karyn Maddren were award winners in the 2023 Auckland Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The Ballance Farm Environment Awards promote sustainable farming and growing across the country, and are facilitated by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust. ■

— NZ Farm Environment Trust

As lifestyleblockers, they don’t necessarily have the vested interest we do, but they do see and understand their role in having a healthy catchment.