AN Elsthorpe farming couple have embarked on a journey to improve the sustainability of their historic property. Mangarara Station farmers Greg and Rachel Hart have entered into a project with Air New Zealand to turn 100 acres of marginally profitable farming land into native bush reserve by planting 85,000 native treesat the site over the next three years. They will be working in collaboration with the Air New Zealand Environment Trust, set up to offset the carbon emissions of the national air carrier and launched in Auckland today. Mr Hart said he and Rachel had been thinking about how to improve their farm's environmental performance for the past couple of years. "We'd been thinking about the sustainability of the farm and the way we run our business, and looking at alternative ways of doing things," Mr Hart said. "Sheep and beef farming faces some serious challenges at the moment due to climatic challenges, low returns and high costs. "This creates an opportunity to reconsider everything we do and look at all alternatives." They settled on the plan to develop a model of sustainable farming and convert marginal hill country into native bush. The big challenge was paying for it. Earlier this year they heard about Air New Zealand's desire to set up an environmental trust. "We had to figure out how to pay for it so approached Air New Zealand with an idea to trade airpoints for trees, and it coincided with them thinking about the trust," Mr Hart said. "We only had our first meeting with them in February, so it's moved at a meteoric rate." The Harts also plan to open the farm up to the public so visitors can see what happens on a farm and in nature.
