Jointly funded by MDC and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), the programme supports farmers to plant trees and combat erosion on marginal farmland. The fund provides advice and financial support to landowners, and provides assistance for retirement of high-risk forestry land. This can be done through retiring eroding land from grazing, pole planting and native reversion planting.
Marlborough has more than 9,000 square kilometres of land classified as hill country and protecting this from erosion is a mammoth task, but one that is extremely important, given that freshwater quality and productive land are both essential for our rural economy.
In 2022 the Hill Country Erosion Fund assisted in funding more than 36,000 native plants for erosion control on permanently retired farmland and 6,550 poplar and willow poles for space planting on eroding pastoral land. More than 7,300 exotics (oaks and dryland eucalypts) were also funded for space planting and erosion control woodlot trials on particularly challenging faces. Six kilometres of fencing was subsidised to permanently exclude stock from retired unsuitable grazing land.
The programme has so far supported more than 150 landowners across the region to address erosion on their properties. Council was recently successful in its application to MPI for more than $900,000 in funding over the next four years to continue this important work.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Jenny Buck jenny.buck@marlborough.govt.nz
