South Taranaki farmers Damian and Jane Roper receive national award

Jane and Damian Roper won the Kaitiakitanga Award at the Primary Industries New Zealand Awards.

Two South Taranaki dairy farmers have received a prestigious award for their efforts in biodiversity.

Jane and Damian Roper, who own a 300ha dairy farm at Alton north of Pātea, won the Guardianship and Conservation (Kaitiakitanga) Award at the Primary Industries New Zealand Awards.

Damian Roper said receiving the award was humbling.

“It was a privilege to be nominated and then humbling to win it. There was a high calibre of nominees for the award. I believe everyone deserves recognition and a trophy for their efforts. It gives a sense of pride, seeing so many people taking up the challenge of protecting our biodiversity.”

Jane Roper said the two-day summit event, which included the awards, was enlightening.

“It showcased so much talent. It was amazing to hear from the guest speakers. It made us feel proud to do what we do.”

Damian said each speaker had the environment at heart.

“Whether it was about export or trade, the environment was the focus, with the speakers highlighting the importance of reducing emissions and proving to customers that we are protecting our diversity while remaining profitable.”

For the Ropers, being sustainable and environmentally conscious is a key focus in their farming journey, with the couple building a pā in 2021 to propagate and grow native trees such as tawa, pukatea, swamp maire, hinau, manuka and rātā.

Over seven years, they have gone from growing 10,000 trees in the nursery to 40,000. Across the farm, they have planted about 85,000 trees over seven years.

With a target to plant 500,000 trees, they were currently planting 12,000 a year, Damian said.

“We have a wonderful partnership with Trees that Care who supply us with eco-sourced trees. The focus is native trees that were here before we were. To reach our 500,000 goal we’ll have to go from 12,000 to planting 20-25,000 trees a year.”

He said they had 80ha of pine plantation which they would replace with native trees.

“We will include a walkway for access but also to showcase to our peers and community other options they can look at instead of pine.”

Damian said they had 15ha in the Emissions Trading Scheme, receiving carbon credits.

“It’s an alternative stream of income that provides biodiversity for our flora and fauna. It’s about busting open those corridors and having these pockets to protect our biodiversity.”

On their 300ha farm, 160ha is for milking and 20ha for beef plus the 80ha they are converting from pine to native trees. Damian said they saved about 110ha of the property for retirement and native tree planting.

In addition to their work on the farm, Damian is a Pātea River Catchment Group member, working alongside volunteers and two part-time rangers to bring kiwi back to the Tarere Conservation Park.

“We have an amazing network of volunteers, rangers and a great partnership with the Taranaki Kiwi Trust to bring kiwi back to this area.”

Jane said they wanted to create something for future generations.

“We’re doing this to leave a legacy.”