The QEII Trust has already proved indispensable to enhancing New Zealand’s biodiversity – it just needs to expand.

That’s the message Matatā farmer Brent Mountfort took to the Primary Production Select Committee briefing on the future of QEII earlier this month.

Mr Mountfort, who is Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers president, scooped four conservation prizes at the recent Balance Conservation Award, so his words have weight.

He told the select committee QEII had an excellent record of enhancing biodiversity on private land, having made substantial gains with little resourcing.

“I told them they would achieve much more with better funding, and politicians from all parties seemed to agree with this. Expansion of QEII is a bipartisan issue – there should be no politics involved.

“There are about 194,000 hectares protected under QEII covenants, but they have not had a base-line funding increase for 10 years. Over the same time, the Department of Conservation has doubled its budget.

“We are not asking for a lot – the ideal figure would be QEII’s funding going up from the current $4.2 million to $10 million per annum. If the funding stays where it’s at they won’t be able to do any new covenants – they’ll only have enough money to maintain what they have already.

“QEII have about 60 high-quality staff working around the country. They’re great people making stuff happen – not paper shufflers.

“Many farmers and other landowners are becoming more interested in protecting the biodiversity in their bush. But it’s too expensive to do it on your own. So, for just a little more funding we have a real opportunity here to help them get a big job done well.”

Mr Mountfort farms a 269ha sheep and beef property of which 70ha is in protected bush, 29ha of which is under QEII. He goes out to trap pests and plant natives on his property, “the way some men liked to go fishing.”

“I’m not alone – so many of the farmers I know share a vision to protect and restore our bush so native flora and fauna can thrive and our grandchildren can enjoy it. QEII is an effective tool to accomplish this. When QEII works in partnership with landowners to protect native biodiversity, it is forever.

“The landowner retains ownership while the trust provides legal protection. It has been tested in court but the legal status of QEII land has always been upheld.”

QEII helped with the cost of fencing, while contributions were also available from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. The council could provide up to 50 percent of the cost of planting natives. Local conservation groups like the Manawahe Eco Trust can also assist.

“We are interconnected, helping to conserve and regenerate these bush areas, and just as well. On your own it’s too expensive, for example, for a normal eight-to-nine wire conventional fence is $30 a metre.

“Many farmers want to conserve their bush but can’t afford to do as much as they’d like. Fencing the bush off and adding to the planting within these areas is a benefit to everyone.

“When you think about the small amount of funding it’s good value as farmers and landowners are there 24/7 to manage the bush area that has been conserved.

“There has been talk around councils retiring significant areas compulsorily. We don’t want councils coming in with blanket regulations telling farmers and landowners, ‘hey we think this is a really nice area – you have to fence it off.’

“The landowner or farmer will do that if they must, but you won’t get the right outcomes. If you don’t have the good will of the owner just fencing off a bit of bush would be futile. Without maintenance it will soon fill up with weeds and pests.”

In his view, QEII local landowners are best situated for the job of pest eradication.

A lifetime of observing the habits of stoats and rats has made Mr Mountfort a wily trapper. These predators go into dense bush to find prey, but they prefer the line of least resistance the rest of the time. They scuttle along fence lines or sheep tracks, so he places his traps in these areas as well as in the bush.

Mr Mountfort has just spent $3000 for six state-of-the-art AT 220 traps, made in Whakatāne. These are highly effective in trapping feral cats, rats, possums and mice. He now owns 10 of the traps, which reset themselves, their main lure being mayonnaise.

“There’s a hierarchy in the pests they trap. First possums pile up, then rats, then mice. Feral cats come to take the dead rats and get caught.”

In addition, he has 12 automated traps and more than 100 bait stations on his property.

“A destructive pest, which gets little publicity, is the humble hedgehog. These have wiped out ground nesting birds and decimated invertebrates, insects and lizards.

“Destruction wrought by deer could not be over-stated. Deer easily jump an ordinary fence so the last bit of fencing we put up was deer fencing. There is going to be more demand for this because it adds another layer of protection. People underestimate deer. They are one of the most prolific and active pests and new evidence shows how badly bush biodiversity has declined due to their browsing.

“Infilling is also important when regenerating one of these beautiful areas of bush. You give that area a leg-up by planting some of those special trees there as well. For example, if all the puriri are gone there may be no habitat for wood pigeons.”

He said karamu was one of the earliest native trees to be spread by birds, along with kānuka, mānuka and whiteywood (mahoe). The beauty of planting additional karamu is that it has berries, which the birds love. They eat these then excrete the contents of their gut, which are already holding other tree seeds.

Following these early trees came the broad leaves and finally the heritage species, like rimu and totara.

When spoken to, Mr Mountfort was planting kakabeak, a plant with white or red flowers. Everything in the bush loves eating the flowers, which makes the plant rare.

“It’s one of the most beautiful plants in our bush but you just don’t see it much. How can we preserve this for future generations; how will our children know what they are missing if all these plants disappear.

“Farmers are conservationists by nature. Farming and biodiversity go together, but much of what is being achieved is in the back blocks well out of public view.  

"QEII National Trust has an ineffective partnership with landowners to protect native biodiversity on their properties.”