Catchment community groups, Marlborough District Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council

The Marlborough District Council launched the Catchment Care Programme in 2020 as a way to work together with the communities of Marlborough to invest in protecting and enhancing river catchments, and in recognition that the biggest improvements in water quality are achieved when every contributor to the water body works together.

The Catchment Care programme is a voluntary programme focused primarily on the non-regulatory opportunities the Council has to support and invest in the people and communities of Marlborough and to facilitate the responsible use of natural resources. Alongside central government, Marlborough District Council provides financial support to implement solutions for the highest priority catchments where the waterways have been identified as degraded or at risk of degradation.

There are currently six catchment care groups. Each Catchment Care project is unique and often involves a mix of solutions, such as riparian fencing, native planting, and the use of dung beetles to improve manure and water absorption.

In the Wellington region, the Catchment Community Group initiative was established in the Wairarapa approximately seven years ago as a result of the Ruamāhanga Whaitua and a nationwide movement for catchment groups. In the Wairarapa this was supported and funded by Greater Wellington Regional Council, the Department of Conservation, central government, Wairarapa Pukaha to Kawakawa, Beef + Lamb NZ and DairyNZ. A wide range of groups have been established. The landowner-led Wairarapa Catchment Collective is the newly formed entity whose purpose is to continue and expand catchment community action into the future. This is a partnership project with the Ministry of Primary Industries, Greater Wellington and Mountains to Sea NZ.

Each catchment community group is led by landowners, farmers and community members, who decide how the group operates and what actions it will take to achieve a long-term vision for the catchment.