Native plants are springing up all over Gary and Marie Hawken's farm at Waitotara.
The couple run dairy grazing on their 600ha farm, which is mostly coastal land near the mouth of the Waitotara River.
They have just put in 400 natives - including harakeke (flax), toetoe, pohutukawa and ti kouka (cabbage
trees) - along the edge of their waterways, including the Waitotara River, with 100 more still to be planted.
The Department of Conservation and Waitotara School are also involved in the riparian planting along the river.
Encouraged by the old catchment board, Mr Hawken began planting natives on his property about 20 years ago.
He has also created a wetland lake on a former paddock and he and Marie are delighted to see freshwater fish in the lake, and birds such as ducks visiting it.
Mr Hawken said it made sense to do riparian planting on farms.
"It helps with stock control - it keeps the stock out of the rivers and drains. And it helps keep the riverbank stable if there's plants and trees along it." The cost of the plants is shared between the Hawkens and the QE2 National Trust, but Mr Hawken has paid for fencing around his wetland and plans to fence off his stands of old cabbage trees.
The Hawkens have owned the farm, Kereone, since the early 1980s but Mr Hawken's family have farmed at the river mouth for several generations.
"We had a fair bit of swamp on the farm and when we bought this place back in the'80s it was all about draining as much as you could."
Mr Hawken believes many farmers are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues.
"People are thinking more and more about giving a bit of the land back," he said.
