The increasing availability of Location Data through open sources, combined with a Geographic Information System (GIS), provides a framework and process for tackling almost every kind of challenge that people need to address. This includes natural resource management activities, such as Farm Planning, via enabling valuable spatial insights and improve critical decision-making.

It all begins with data and measurement, which we then want to be able to visualise and analyse for a deeper understanding to get to those important stages of planning and designing our interventions. Making decisions about priority, how, when, and where to act and then we take that action and monitor or evaluate our outcomes.

With specific reference to Farm Planning activities, this Master Class will highlight the many and varied sources of GIS Open Data. Sources include multiband satellite imagery, local and central government planning and regulatory layers, LINZ data, national environmental datasets and LIDAR derived terrain and slope layers. You will also learn how these layers and datasets can quickly be brought together with your own data to help map, analysis, plan and manage the land.

Urban stormwater runoff is a major source of pollution in local rivers and streams, and regular water sampling in Ōtautahi/Christchurch has shown that many urban waterways regularly exceed guideline values for contaminants. Despite this, public awareness about stormwater and its pollutants remains low. The development of the Stormwater Superhero Trailer was initiated by Evan Smith of the Avon- Ōtākaro Network, who asked Environment Canterbury and Christchurch City Council to create an educational tool that could be taken to the public of Christchurch and Waitaha/Canterbury. This unique educational tool is designed to help people understand what stormwater is, where it goes, and how it affects our rivers and streams. The trailer also provides information on the key actions individuals can take to reduce stormwater pollution and protect our waterways and aims to show that rivers are taonga and an important source of mahinga kai. The Stormwater Superhero Trailer is the only one of its kind in New Zealand and was hand-built in Sydenham, Christchurch.

To roll out the trailer, a partnership project between Environment Canterbury, Christchurch City Council, Avon-Ōtākaro Network, Centre for Freshwater Management, Ōpāwaho Heathcote River Network, Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust, and the Christchurch Envirohub Trust was developed. The goal is to raise awareness and have behaviour change conversations with members of the public that will benefit our awa and moana.

It is taken to destinations that can be categorised into: commercial venues and parks where members of the public go to shop and recreate; eco destinations such as festivals; and education destinations such as libraries and field days.

At commercial venues and parks, it is a challenge for facilitators to engage with the unsuspecting public. Facilitators need to put on their best ‘game’ face and be brave to draw people into a conversation about stormwater management that is meaningful whilst positive and fun. Techniques include: a suite of hooks to get them to stop, practise your chat, in the mirror with the cat and know most people want to do the right thing.

This master class will share techniques and practise how to effectively engage the public in conversations to raise awareness and change the publics everyday behaviour for the benefit of our awa and moana. Skills will be transferable to any environmental topic where you seek to engage with the public.

This interactive masterclass looks at the past, present and future for cyclone affected land in the Tairawhiti region.

In 1988 Cyclone Bola devastated our region and a range of steps were undertaken over the next 30 years. Were these right?

More recently Tairawhtit has been subjected to two years of intensive rainfall events culminating in two high intensity rains in January 2023, Ex-Cyclone Hale and February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle.

We have seen a large conversion of hill country to plantation forestry since Bola and are now seeing significant adverse effects on this sensitive land. What should have occurred on this sensitive land?

In the rush to establish plantation forestry, incentives moved away from addressing gully and streambank erosion. Pole planting on pastoral land ceased for a considerable time but what has been well targeted has been successful. The result is ongoing gully and streambank erosion on farms and forests with little protection from slash entering waterways due to the lack of riparian vegetation and control measures. While plantation species protect the land when closed canopy is created the harvest cycle creates a vulnerable period when erosion and slash mobilisation occur.

There are whole faces of mature plantation trees that have moved, filling or blocking waterways with significant damage to infrastructure and land downstream when this wood material mobilises.

We now face significant challenges and would like your feedback on:

• Was a regional development and erosion control model the right direction?
• Have policy, direction and funding initiatives served us well?
• What innovations are available and what further options should we be exploring?
• What areas of farm and forestry land have a sustainable future, what land use change is required and how do we achieve this?
• What forest can be harvested safely, what should be replanted and what happens to the highly sensitive land which is not sustainable in clear-fell harvesting?

The Resource Management (Freshwater Farm Plans) Regulations 2023 came into effect from 1 August 2023 in parts of Waikato and Southland, with the next regions being Otago, the West Coast and Manawatu (Horizons) in early 2024.

This facilitated interactive masterclass will provide an overview of the freshwater farm plan (FW FP) system.

It will also explain who needs a FW FP, as well as how to develop, certify and audit the plans.

It will answer what makes a FW FP different to a farm environment plan, and how to utilise the catchment context cultural values information (CCCV) that regional and unitary councils are developing.

Participants will take part in a group activity to develop a proposed FW FP action plan, based on a real farm and related CCCV information. This activity will include:

• identifying the inherent and activity related property specific risks to freshwater,
• identifying appropriate actions to mitigate the risks,
• categorising actions (regulatory, catchment, supplementary) and
• developing an achievable proposed action plan.

This masterclass will provide participants with an appreciation of how each FW FP will be different depending on farm specific risks and the catchment setting. The FW FP action plan needs to manage that farm’s contributing risks to freshwater both on farm and within the catchment it’s located in, and must be achievable within the time frames specified in the FW FP.

In recent years over $200m has been invested in catchment groups by various government departments and agencies. This investment has helped to create or breathe life into catchment communities across the country.

Following a challenging few years, OverseerFM is once again thriving as the leading tool for enabling farmers and their advisors to understand nutrient cycles, nutrient losses and GHG emissions from farms. An MPI funded science program has addressed the material concerns of the science independent review panel. Over 15,000 farms now have farm accounts, with almost 9,000 of those having generated results.

Many catchment groups have progressed to a stage where they are operating as functioning community groups – providing social support to rural communities and with regular activities such as water testing and planting days. A challenge seems to remain for many to move to meaningful change in their catchments. To do so may require farm system or even land use change, and hence resistance and reluctance to engage can increase as this subject is approached.

OverseerFM provides catchment groups, and those supporting them, with the Farm groups Tool – a unique way of exploring the modelled nutrient losses at a farm level, or at a “by block” level. Different levels of visibility can be set as a group moves through trust levels and become more comfortable sharing with their peers.

The NZARM Conference master class will provide attendees with the opportunity to understand how to establish and use the Farm Groups Tool. It will allow attendees to understand what reporting is available within the tool, how to move a group through the different levels of data privacy / transparency and how to use the software to facilitate the identification of critical source blocks.

The development of a national Freshwater Farm Plan programme (FW FP) has required a change in approach to Farm Environment Plans (FEP). The freshwater farm plan process requires farmers and growers to identify on-farm risks to freshwater and to determine actions to manage those risks based on the:

• farm’s landscape features and natural environment
• farming activities
• environmental health and cultural and community values of the local catchment.

This session will complement the master class on the Development of Freshwater Farm Plans and will go into more depth on topics including:

• an introduction on why the Government has introduced a national a risk based approach;
• identifying risks through mapping;
• lessons learnt from the development of FEPs;
• changing from FEPs to a more bespoke plan that identifies the risk priorities and actions to address them.

Writing actions in Freshwater Farm Plans (FWFP) will require additional information and a change in approach to the way actions were written in Farm Environment Plans (FEP or FEMP). FEPs identify industry practice or standards to manage environmental effects, FWFPs expect farmers to take further steps. The focus of FWFP is to identify regulatory, inherent (for example climate, soil, slope, drainage, ground, and surface water) and catchment risks and the actions needed to manage those risks. The appropriate actions may be addressed by an industry practice, or it may require site -specific actions to manage the risk that goes beyond standard practice.

The masterclass will include a facilitated interactive session, working in small groups on examples FEPS from different regions and primary sectors, and make changes so they meet the requirements of the FW-FP requirements. This masterclass will provide an opportunity for those involved to share knowledge with the group on what will work for the development of FWFPs for their region/industry.