Parengarenga Incorporation
Ecology First
A vision for an environment-led approach to farming in the Far North.
Ecosystem: Farming with a waterway point of view
Just half an hour south of Cape Reinga lies Parengarenga Station, a diverse, nearly 6000-hectare farming operation that stretches between both coasts of the country. Northland is a deeply tribal region with strong links to the whenua and Parengarenga Station is no different. It’s also a particularly challenging and diverse environment – with absolute white silica sand on the east coast to coarse sand on the west coast. In between, the farmland has a combination of sand, peat and clay.
Former station manager Karthryne Easton had a vision for the land - starting with the environment then working back to the farm with a best-use-of-land philosophy that would also handle its various pest, pasture and weather issues. She said: “Let’s look at the environment and work backwards. So, what is the harbour looking like? What is our potential impact on that harbour and how can I mitigate it? We’ve got a lot of peninsulas that run down into the harbour. So we are looking at what we can run down those peninsulas with the least impact. Sheep are an obvious choice with a smaller all-round footprint and have our cattle further up the catchment and manage these areas so there’s less impact.”
Ecovitalism: Biosecurity meets biodiversity
Development work on the station is well underway. At Kauri Park we are helping the station with its vision of planting tens of thousands of manuka stems.
We are delighted to be helping execute Parengarenga Inc’s plan to build an environment in the Far North that will not only rekindle the bird life but provide a biosecurity corridor to encourage greater biodiversity.
As Easton said: “We see this project as an exploration into our future as we analyse our own capability to head towards a carbon-neutral, methane-reduced future. This is a unique part of the country with a Maori incorporation on a journey with their whenua with aspirations to make a difference in the national and international agricultural market arena.”
Kathryne has moved into a role in one of the most exciting projects on the planet at the moment - the restoration of the world’s largest estuarine harbours, Kaipara Harbour.
We love your vision Parengarenga Station and our plants are excited to be part of your mission.
