Rotorua Land Use Innovation Series
The Rotorua Land Use Innovation Series was a series of free presentations and workshops running throughout August 2018 discussing the latest ideas for land use innovation for Rotorua.
The Launch evening was followed by three workshops: Manuka and Farm Forestry, Agri-Tourism and Integrated Land Use. The following presentations are available for download as pdf files. Canopy Tours also included links to videos.
Series Launch – 2nd August
Warren Parker, Chair, Forestry Ministerial Advisory Group
Paul Button, General Manager, Canopy Tours gave a great presentation (without technology) and described how the bush they use, on Dept of Conservation land, had flourished with the eradication of pests and the building of an environmentally sustainable tourism business.
Warren Parker, Chair, Forestry Ministerial Advisory Group outlined some of the larger environmental issues facing farmers today including global warming, protein burgers, the Zero Carbon bill, water shortages and urban farming and alongside this, the NZ Primary Sector response.
- Warren Parker, Opportunities and Innovation
Manuka and Farm Forestry – 9th August
Stephen Lee, GM, Manuka Farming NZ
Stephen Lee, General Manager, Manuka Farming NZ, described some of the opportunities for Plantation Manuka Honey and what has been learnt from the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) Programme on High Performance Manuka.
- Stephen Lee, Opportunities for Plantation Manuka Honey
Andy Dick, CEO, Toitu Te Waonui Ltd, looked at Afforestation Opportunities in the Rotorua catchment and explained how the dNiitro online tool could help land users familiarise themselves with potential cashflows from manuka and radiata pine.
Warren Parker gave a second presentation on The Billion Trees programme and how that relates to trees on farms and the Emissions Trading Scheme.
- Warren Parker, Billion Trees Programme and trees on Farm
Agri-Tourism – 14th August
Ian Bishop, Marketing Manager, Bachcare
Michelle Templer, CEO, Rotorua Economic Development / Destination Rotorua, gave insights into Tourism trends and opportunities for the growth of alternative land uses in the Rotorua tourism market.
- Michelle Templer, Tourism Trends and Insights
Sarah Coatsworth, Owner, Weardale Farms and a dairy farmer in the Lake Rotorua catchment, gave an idea of the practical issues and challenges around running a farmstay from her own experience setting up Weardale Farms in Rotorua.
- Sarah Coatsworth, Farm Tourism – The Experience of Weardale Farms
Ian Bishop, Marketing Manager, Bachcare, explained how Bachcare can help managing farmstay accommodation and an overview of the short-term holiday home market in New Zealand.
- Ian Bishop, Managing Your Farmstay Accommodation
Anna Grayling, Principal Advisor, Rotorua Catchment, BOPRC, gave a rundown on Council funding and incentives that landowners can take advantage when reducing nutrient leaching on their properties.
- Anna Grayling, Rotorua Lakes Council Incentives
Integrated Land Use – 23rd August
Nick Hammond, COO, Spring Sheep Milk Co.
Nick Hammond, Chief Operating Officer, Spring Sheep Milk Co., outlined the opportunities for sheep milking and the work the company was doing marketing sheep milk, sheep genetics and development of appropriate farm systems.
- Nick Hammond, Sheep Milking
Michele Connell, Dairy Farmer & Entrepreneur, Off the Beaten Track, gave insights into their new business ‘Off the Beaten Track’, a website listing service that connects holiday makers with lanadowners and a taste of authentic rural New Zealand.
- Michele Connell, Off The Beaten Track
Ray Morrison, GM, Ngati Whakaue Tribal Lands, explained how Ngati Whakaue, the largest farmer in the catchment, have approached their opportunities for multiple land uses of farming, forestry and tourism.
- Ray Morrison, Ngati Whakaue – Integrated Land Use
A big thank you to all of our presenters for providing us with a very successful series.
Ngā mihi ki a koutou.
