Biodiversity
Biodiversity includes all the living things on your farm — from plants and animals to soil life and insects. As a farmer, you see how these systems work together to keep your land productive.
You understand biodiversity because you live and work amidst it every day.
The Taieri catchment is one of the biological powerhouses of mainland New Zealand – it is a biodiversity hotspot – both in the diversity of plants and animals that occur here, and in their risk of being lost.
Like much of New Zealand, the catchment is a vastly altered ecological system. Hundreds of years of burning, grazing, and the spread of introduced plants and animals has altered this landscape forever.
We cannot go back to what was originally here. But we can look after what we have now, fortifying our farms and wilderness areas by promoting rich biodiversity in these places.
Native species like snow tussock, long fin eel / tuna, freshwater crayfish/kōura, New Zealand falcon / kārearea all play a key role in our ecosystems, as do natural habits such as upland tussockland and ephemeral wetlands.
Exotic species can be important too – they can help with soil stabilisation and erosion control, and can provide habitat for native birds and insects, as well as refuge and connectivity e.g. shelterbelts can form ecological corridors or stepping stones that help wildlife move across landscapes with fragmented habitats.
Biodiversity Resources
The resources on this site are here to help you identify, maintain, and enhance the biodiversity on your farm. These resources were produced or collated as part of the Healthy Taieri project.
You can use these resources to help you develop a plan for managing or enhancing biodiversity on your farm.
Taiari Biodiversity Guide
Biodiversity Of The Taiari River Catchment, Written by Bill Morris, takes a detailed look at the various stages of the Taiari and the magnificent wildlife that each supports. A limited number of hard copies are available – get in touch if you’d like one (with your catchment group or sally.dicey@whirika.co.nz), otherwise you can read it online here…
Taiari Biodiversity Posters
These fantastic A1 posters were illustrated and edited by Paulina Barry. I’ve you’d like a printed copy please contact: sally.dicey@whirika.co.nz
Upper Taiari Biodiversity Poster
Mid & Lower Taiari Biodiversity Poster
Interactive Biodiversity Maps
The information shown in these maps helps you:
- Identify what biodiversity you have on your farm, or in your area, or what may have been there or could be there in the future.
- Choose possible actions to prioritise within the context of the broader landscape or catchment that your farm is in.
The accuracy of maps is dependent in large part on the data available. Where areas are shown as low priority for conservation or protection, this may be due to the lack of survey information on that area. Survey records can also be dated, which may mean that species are no longer present at a site.
Scroll down to use the map below, or if you’d prefer open the map in a new window.
Biodiversity planning & monitoring templates
Please feel free to use these templates to help you get started with planning and monitoring biodiversity on your property – these have been adapted from Beef + Lamb New Zealand templates by The Whole Story.
