About

Farming for the Future is an annual one-day seminar held in the Wairarapa, created by the South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group and the Mangaterere Restoration Society. Since 2014 we've been helping farmers, businesses, and organisations improve their knowledge and understanding of the natural environment, reduce their environmental footprint, and achieve more sustainable outcomes.

Organisers

Farming for the Future is coordinated by a small team of volunteers from the South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group, the Mangaterere Restoration Society, and some other really good apples. 

Heather Atkinson

Heather co-owns a diverse and innovative pastoral farm at Pirinoa, South Wairarapa. She works with the Agri Women’s Development Trust where she empowers women in the primary sector to better ‘own’ their skills, build their knowledge, and bring their most confident selves to their primary sector roles.

Heather is the co-founder and former President of the South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group and has been a key Farming for the Future organiser since its inception in 2012.

Scott Ihaka

Scott has worked for Greater Wellington Regional Council for 10 years as a Policy Advisor, Land Management Advisor, and is now the Team Leader of Operations. Previously, he was a Park Ranger and Environmental Consent Planner in the Bay of Plenty. He loves being part of the Farming for the Future seminars and thinks they are a great way for farming communities to stay current and up-skill on topical issues like land and water management.

Phillip Percy

Phillip established Perception Planning in Martinborough in 2007. He and the team help people and organisations have a positive impact on the environment by helping them with resource management policies and projects. He grew up on a Wairarapa farm and loves making progressive connections between farming resilience, sustainable management and good environmental outcomes.

Phillip has been involved in Farming for the Future since its inception. "I love the buzz of working with other people to discover and develop great ideas and solutions that are far better than any one of us could come up with on our own."

Esther Dijkstra

Esther is a director at EcoAgriLogic Limited, a consultancy for sustainable and ecological land-use that integrates research, development, and education. She has a PhD in Environmental Sciences from the University of Amsterdam. In the past 15 years, she has managed regional and national projects in the agricultural sector funded by Sustainable Farming Fund and DairyNZ. Esther has been active with Farming for the Future since it started in 2012.

Esther is the Mangaterere Restoration Society project coordinator, an Enviroschools facilitator, and as a member of the Ruamāhanga Whaitua Committee. She recently joined the Wellington Conservation Board (Department of Conservation) as a board member.

South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group

The South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group is a non-profit volunteer organisation made of farmers, viticulturists, business owners, environmentalists and more. SWBG offers support and educational opportunities for farming communities so they can understand the influence their business decisions have on the environment.

Group members are actively involved in environmental enhancement projects, including riparian planting, grey water wetland planting and other local project. Their work focusses on the area at the bottom of the Ruamahanga River catchment, including Lake Onoke, Lake Wairarapa and the coastal environment.

Mangaterere Restoration Society

The Mangatarere Restoration Society is a streamcare group working to improve the health of the Mangatarere Stream in Carterton. We are volunteers from the community, farming, local industry and Iwi.

We support Greater Wellington Regional Council's Land and Environment Plans for landowners adjacent to the Mangatarere Stream, including providing community volunteers to assist with ecological restoration activities. Our volunteers raise conservation awareness and promote behavioural change by working with the community, working with farmers and working with local industry. We also implement environmental education campaigns to ensure only rain enters our drains.

Questions?

Drop us a line at info@farmingforthefuture.org.nz and follow our Facebook page.