Posted on May 21, 2025
A metal decal of a black stilt or kakī on the entrance to the Cochrane family’s farm near Waimate is the first indication the property could be home to something special.
Five years ago, a pair of kakī — one of the world’s rarest birds — started visiting the property Crystal Brook in the Lower Waihao catchment where the Hossack wetland is.
Farm owners Martin and Diane Cochrane, along with their nephew, environmental scientist Simon Bloomberg, had always intended restoring the wetland — where invasive weeds and pest willow had been threatening the environment — but put it off due to the cost.
Thanks to $10,000 of action plan funding from the Lower Waitaki South Coastal Canterbury water zone committee, work began earlier this year.
The Cochrane family hope the project might encourage other landowners to consider how they could contribute to improving water quality and biodiversity.
Funding had also been received from MGI Irrigation Co, and there had been QEII assistance with fencing, while funding had been obtained from the One Billion Trees programme to plant natives in gullies on Crystal Brook.
Mrs Cochrane’s family, the Elliots, had farmed the property since the 1899 Waikākahi farm ballot and bought the neighbouring Hossack Wetland in 2003.
The wetland provided a natural filter for water going into the Waihao River and a variety of wading birds were also spotted there, much to the family’s delight.
Mr Cochrane spent the first eight years of his working life working for the New Zealand Forest Service. While there was always a desire to go farming, the stint gave him some knowledge around planting trees.
When he and his wife started farming the original block, they planted trees in areas he did not think a four-wheel-drive tractor could not be safely driven on. Those trees were logged three years ago and the areas had since been replanted, along with some further plantings.
Their daughter Jess, who studied geology and New Zealand’s environmental history at university, worked on the farm for about a decade prior to joining Environment Canterbury.
Concussion meant she found it hard working outside on the farm every day as she was sensitive to light and she applied for a job at ECan, having always wanted to help farmers with the environmental side of things.
Nearly two years ago, she started as a land management and biodiversity adviser and her role had since changed to concentrate on land management. To ensure impartiality, she was not involved with the funding application to the zone committee.
She enjoyed her job, saying her practical background in farming had been very beneficial and the family’s own initiatives were useful as people always wanted to know the cost of embarking on such ventures and many underestimated how much it did cost.
Both the Hossack wetland and another wetland area on the farm, with a sward of raupo through it, were being protected with QEII covenants, following a visit from QEII regional representative Rob Smith.
That ensured they remained into the future and incorporating public access would also be part of the restoration project.
Mr Cochrane said the biggest challenge would be the maintenance involved in growing the native plants as they could be quite vulnerable for the first three to five years.
“It will be a family project, anything we can do to improve the environment, and to make it a better home for wading birds is worth it,” he said.
Keen to approach a school to help with planting, Mr Cochrane said he was eager to fast-forward about five years to see what the area looked like once the plants had become established.
