Localising Food Tour Aotearoa

NZ Landcare Trust will host a 2 day conference starting 29 February 2012 at the Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato Campus, Hamilton. In addition an optional field trip is planned for 28 February, for those who would like to discover more about landcare issues around Hamilton and the work carried out within the community.

The conference will celebrate the work of rural communities from all around New Zealand and provide an opportunity to explore the role that community leadership plays in sustainable land and water management. In addition the conference will examine sustainability in a broader commercial context, investigating how sustainable land management can make good business sense, both to farmers and the wider business community.

With landscapes under increasing pressure from commercial and recreational interests, the need to protect the environment and our native biodiversity has never been more important. The conference will consider the practical challenges associated with combining biodiversity enhancement projects with the commercial needs of primary producers.

Who should attend?

Delegates will share an interest in community led solutions to sustainable land and water issues:

• Farmers
• Landowners
• Landcare and community group representatives
• Iwi representatives
• Resource management professionals
• Land management staff
• Biodiversity and biosecurity professionals
• Local authority representatives
• Government representatives
• Members of the scientific community
• Researchers and tertiary students
• Agricultural and sustainability consultants

Different Perspectives

The conference aims to inform and challenge the audience by looking at landcare and catchment management issues from different perspectives.

One global perspective will be offered by Matthew Reddy from the International River Foundation who will highlight the Foundation’s work supporting river and catchment management projects around the world and the role played by the International River Prize. He will discuss innovative ideas such as twinning projects from different countries and identify opportunities for NZ river managers.

Among many local perspectives South Island farmer Doug Avery will speak about the Green Ribbon Award winning work of the Starborough Flaxbourne Soil Conservation Group and how they overcame the challenges of dryland farming, helping to build greater farm resilience. Doug will explain how he used Lucerne to enhance stock performance on his test farm. He will also discuss the value of events and fieldays to rural communities and the important role they play in spreading the word. Farmers can really benefit from keeping an open mind… willing to take the lead and explore innovative solutions.

Speaker Bio: Matthew Reddy

Matthew Reddy is CEO of the International River Foundation, a passionate practitioner in environmental and management consulting his main areas of expertise cover project financing, capital raising and the application of market based instruments in carbon and ecosystem services. Matthew has national and international project experience including environmental management systems, catchment scale implementation of biodiverse forest carbon sinks, degraded river restoration, native grasslands, freshwater biodiversity and wetlands.

Email:  conference@landcare.org.nz

Tags: landcare