$6m towards farmer-led projects in Canterbury, Otago

The Lindis River project aims to improve river health by mitigating erosion and improving biodiversity. Photo / AFP

By RNZ.

The health of rivers, wetlands and habitats in Canterbury and Otago has received a $6 million boost in the form of farmer-led projects.

Four farmer-led catchment group Jobs for Nature projects have been allocated between $176,000 and $2.3 million over the next three years to fund environmental improvement work across dozens of sites in their regions.

Most of the initiatives were being led by established catchment groups with hundreds of farmer members, Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor said.

"All these projects are led by farmers and the community ... working directly with each other through local catchment groups means they can develop and share their knowledge about what works for them and provide a connected network for support and advice."

The projects are set to employ between 15 and 20 people as well as specialist contractors over the next three years.

Funding of $2.9m for the Future Hurunui project will enable Hurunui District Landcare Group to partner with rural professionals to provide advice and support to their catchment members. Three people will be employed to do this work.

The goal for that project was to deliver up to 300 farm environment plans to improve land management for better environmental outcomes.

The Jobs for Nature projects include:

North Otago Sustainable Land Management Riparian Project - $362,000
Lindis River project, Otago - $772,000
Pomahaka Wetland Restoration project, South Otago - $176,000
The Tinaku project, Ellesmere, Canterbury - $2.2 million