Little scientific research into the potential for using native shrubs on erosion-prone pastoral land has been carried out, says Massey University PhD student Joan Ropiha.
But she intends to change that. "The work being undertaken at Massey, as part of the Hill Country Futures Partnership programme, looks at the potential of native shrubs to contribute to environmental and biodiversity enhancement and also as a supplementary fodder for sheep and cattle."
The five-year $8.1 million Hill Country Futures Partnership programme is co-funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, PGG Wrightson Seeds and Seed Force New Zealand. It is focused on future proofing the profitability, sustainability and wellbeing of Kiwi hill-country farmers, their farm systems, the environment and rural communities.
Ropiha is one of two PhD students and two masters students from Massey University undertaking research for the programme.
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This includes assessing the potential of specific native shrubs and trees - papauma (Griselinia littoralis), taupata (Coprosoma repens) and mahoe (whiteywood) - for planting in steep hill country. About 4000 of these have been planted at the university's Tuapaka hill country farm near Palmerston North.
The study's methodology involves a kaupapa Maori approach.
Based in Mahia, Ropiha has masters degrees in environmental studies and Maori studies, and has knowledge in the practice of rongoa (traditional medicine) and horticulture from a Maori perspective.
Her role in the programme includes clarifying the matauranga (knowledge) about the native shrub species in the study and the associated tikanga (customs and values) of their use, particularly kaitiakitanga (guardianship of the land).
The main options for erosion-prone pastoral land are pine forests or manuka plantations for honey, Ropiha says.
"The research looks at the potential alternatives of planting native shrubs. That would enable the land to continue in pastoral use, with the possibility of farmers also being able to claim carbon credits.
"However, there is a gap in the literature around this. We know of native shrubs that are palatable for feral deer and that plantations and closed canopies of tall woody trees reduce land slips in storms by 70-90 per cent, and that certain native shrubs have potential for environmental and biodiversity values. But we do not have enough robust information on the impact of native shrubs on erosion of pastoral land.
"It is very costly to plant native plants in hill country - so farmers need very robust scientific evidence to inform their decisions around planting."
Ropiha's research includes interviewing Wairoa hill-country farmers about their views, developing a case study, and running wananga for marae communities about matauranga around the shrubs and hill-country vegetation. She is also monitoring the nutritive value of mature papauma, taupata and mahoe as a potential supplementary fodder.
"Massey's research is around these native shrubs in hill country and I bring the traditional Maori aspect of that to the table," Ropiha says. "Hill country is also ancestral landscapes. About 70per cent of Maori titled land is in hill-country farming but there is still little data of Maori in farming - so I am also interested in traditional Maori knowledge of these native plants.
"The lakes and rivers in the community I live in are affected by farming. I have worked with local hapu around their concerns about silt coming down the waterways from hill-country farms.
"The north Hawke's Bay and the East Coast has the worst erosion in the country and I realised we didn't have that scientific bridge between what communities know about the impact of hill country farming on the landscape, and the decision-making behind it."
