Our Land and Water National Science Challenge

Toitū te Whenua, Toiora te Wai, the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge has now ended. Thank you to all who participated in and used our research over the past eight years. We hope it will continue to support you to make changes that improve the health of our land, water and people. Below are some links to help you find and use our evidence-based resources: 🌏 Discover the outcomes of Our Land and Water mahi: https://lnkd.in/gnQhyPqH 🧭 Explore the 900+ tools and resources developed for all the different groups who care for our water: https://lnkd.in/gMSjzGW7 🎓 Learn more with Our Land and Water’s free online courses: https://lnkd.in/gumnNhkQ 🔍 Find a DOI citation for all our resources (even the non-academic ones): https://lnkd.in/gTVPSJ9p 📆 FAQs about the end of Our Land and Water: https://lnkd.in/gEymBc3Y

Our Land and Water’s mission was to preserve the most fundamental treasures of our country – our land, water and associated ecosystems – while producing value from those same treasures. We are confident the value of the primary sector improved during our eight-year lifetime (2016–2024). Primary sector export revenue grew by $19.7 billion (52%), and production reached an all-time high in 2023. Although it’s impossible to determine our contribution to that change, we know several agribusinesses have enhanced their value based on our research, and we’ve widely shared a variety of tools to support agribusinesses in New Zealand. Our research has also clearly identified the measures that need to be taken on land, to improve water quality. It’s too early to see national-scale water quality improvements in response to our research, but when last measured in 2020 we saw that sediment and phosphate were reducing due to improvements in farm management. The number of dairy cows reduced by around 11% over our eight-year funding period, so we also expect to see a reduction in E coli and nitrate over time. Read our final post, here: https://lnkd.in/g6-CCZ94

Every year we prepare five impact case studies for MBIE Science and Innovation as part of our annual reporting requirement. This year, due to the end of the National Science Challenges, we’ve published our 2023–24 impact case studies early. Read them before MBIE does, below: 👉The systems-thinking, holistic approaches to farming in te ao Māori have been demonstrated to enable effective local solutions, leading the way for others. https://lnkd.in/gmBKdXTG 👉We now know where land use needs to change, to meet New Zealand policy expectations for water quality. https://lnkd.in/gNNdjyQZ 👉The company Verdantia Research was founded in 2023, commercialising research that was tested in a project funded by Our Land and Water https://lnkd.in/gJZuATwe 👉Over two million native forest plants have been sold and over 8600 hectares planted using the Tīmata Method for establishing ngahere (native bush). https://lnkd.in/gGS2J3ft 👉The approaches and values of Māori agribusinesses have been proven to grow export value and benefit our people and environment. https://lnkd.in/gWwJhqWw

In three catchments where agriculture has led to poor water quality, new research has identified optimal land-use changes and preferred practices to improve freshwater. Yet for these changes to be feasible, so existing farmers and their families can continue to farm the same land differently, they must be able to be achieved within 20 years (or one generation). “What we found is that while the modelling showed that the conversion of sheep and beef farms to forestry is viable as a mechanism to improve water quality and nominally maintain farm profitability, it is not financially feasible for those who are currently farming that land,” says Lee Matheson, managing director at Perrin Ag and lead researcher on the project.

Why pines? Four research programmes recently brought together past Our Land and Water research, aiming to provide examples of how catchments can change land use to achieve water quality objectives. The idea was that this research would provide examples of how water quality bottom lines can be met through diversifying a proportion of farmland away from pastoral farming, into a mix of horticulture and arable farming, and native and carbon forestry. Instead, the research programmes predicted that a far greater proportion of land than previously anticipated is likely to go into forestry (either pine or native) to meet water quality targets, and all the financial and policy drivers are directing this into pine forestry. This short report looks at why the research ended up here, and what we can do about it, because it’s not too late to move in a different direction. We all need to think and talk about the future we want for our land and rural communities. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gZigMt_V

Māori ways of thinking about land and water offer insights into ways of growing food that are more resilient, healthy and prosperous. In this episode of our new podcast we’ll hear about some ways the systems-thinking, holistic approaches to farming in te ao Māori have been demonstrated to enable effective local solutions, leading the way for others. We’ll hear about the leadership being shown by Māori agribusinesses and how those businesses are influencing the future of our primary sector. https://lnkd.in/gGeZ3a9A

During our Symposium event in May, there was a discussion panel about catchment groups. Attendees were encouraged to share their thoughts and questions via an online conference app. The panel and comments revealed a central tension that is developing with catchment groups: Policymakers are looking at catchment groups as part of a regulatory solution to water quality problems: in essence, to recruit them to achieve limits on water contaminants. Catchment groups, on the other hand, are largely voluntary organisations based on relationships, trust and community-driven aspirations. Often, they do not have the resources, skills, or data to implement water regulations, nor do they necessarily have the intention or accountability frameworks to do so. This disconnect is still developing, and it isn’t clear how the tension may be resolved. https://lnkd.in/gKhfFgq8

The final part of our Symposium event in May involved three facilitated workshops where all participants were encouraged to share their thoughts and hopes for the future direction of land and water research in Aotearoa. We've produced a short document summarising the discussions in these three workshops. In summary: Our Land and Water has left an indelible legacy. The levers are there for change. Read more:https://lnkd.in/grgdQu-S

Here’s an easy one – how do we get wide farming sector buy-in? Talking about the fallout of He Waka Eke Noa, lessons from iwi farming enterprises and remembering the ‘why’ of buy-in in the first-place – this Food & Farming People’s Panel segment discusses cohesion across the sector. Watch the full Food & Farming People’s Panel – part of the Farming for Good research collection – at https://lnkd.in/g4-baX3m

Local community involvement is one of the keys to the long-term health of our rivers and lakes, and communities like catchment groups can play a major role in land-use transitions. Over eight years of research, we’ve learned about the support catchment groups need to meet both their own goals and the expectations their funders have of them. In this episode of our new podcast, we hear how catchment groups are connecting and leading local initiatives that support landowners to investigate new opportunities and adopt change together. https://lnkd.in/gQYhVAWj