WAIKATO PEAT LAKE CATCHMENTS PROJECTS
Community Sustainable Land Management for Waikato Lake Catchments
The Waikato Peat Lake Catchments Project was a three-year project (2008-2011) which successfully brought together a wide range of community members, agencies and industry partners with a shared objective; to improve the health of nationally significant shallow lakes and wetlands through catchment focussed sustainable land management initiatives.
Supported by the Ministry for the Environment’s Sustainable Management Fund (SMF #2246), the project worked with the farming community and used a ‘bottom-up’ participatory approach to develop information sharing forums, such as workshops and resources on sustainable land management. Many of the resources developed for this project contain useful information which is still relevant, including the Best Management Practices for enhancing water quality in the Waikato (2010) booklet – which contains a case study on peat lake restoration and protection.
Guidelines for Landowners in Peat Lake Catchments (2008), and the silt-trap fact sheet (2010) are available for download at the bottom of this page.
Guidelines for Landowners in Peat Lake Catchments.
More than 30 peat lakes are scattered throughout the Waikato and Waipā districts. With dairying as the predominant land use in the lakes’ catchments, water quality has declined markedly in recent years.
Contracted by Environment Waikato (now Waikato Regional Council), Waikato and Waipā District Councils, NZ Landcare Trust produced ‘Guidelines for Landowners in Peat Lake Catchments’. The Guidelines were sent to every landowner with more than 20ha in the lake’s catchments and provides information on history, ecology and key pressures facing the lakes as well as recognised management approaches to improve the environmental footprint of farming.
Peat Lake Restoration Projects Map
NZ Landcare Trust recently mapped all the restoration work being carried out around Peat Lakes in the Waikato and Waipā districts, using Google maps technology.
You can click on a pin to see the great work being carried out by landowners, community group members, agencies and other interested parties.
For further information contact Nardene Berry, our Waikato Regional Coordinator.