Pāmu has surpassed 10,000 hectares of land protected by QEII covenants with the addition of land on a farm in the Te Anau Basin in northern Southland.
Five blocks on Dale Farm, a 2549ha sheep and beef property in the Upukerora Ecological District near Te Anau, were recently registered with QEII.
Pāmu now has 236 QEII covenants on 58 farms, protecting 10,126ha with a further 6000ha covenanted with the Department of Conservation and other bodies.
“This approach along with forests on steep hill country and waterway fencing and riparian planting all add up, enabling us to nurture and enrich the land on which we farm,” Pāmu chief executive Mark Leslie said.
“It’s about balancing our performance and the environment for the benefit of generations to come.”
The QEII covenants on Dale Farm and other surrounding Pāmu farms protect some of the few remaining areas of primary and secondary forest, wetlands, and transitional zones still present in the district.
QEII Trust rep Mark Sutton said the approach of Pāmu to protect entire sub-catchment systems for future water quality and biodiversity connectedness, is significant.
“The working relationships developed in my time with Pāmu environmental managers, the late Gerry Soanes and now Gordon Williams, and the farm managers themselves, have been key in securing the 236 covenants so far.”
Pāmu’s environment manager, Gordon Williams, said its biodiversity strategy has three key pillars: identify all biodiversity worthy of protection, protect it and enhance it.
“That has been, and will continue to be, my mantra.”
He said the job isn’t quite done yet, and he has identified most of the last few areas for consideration.
Each covenant is fenced to a stock-proof standard, giving the areas support to improve to a more representative state.
