How catchment coordinators and council land managers are getting more trees in the ground, faster

Getting to stable slopes and healthy waterways means navigating a tangle of site visits, planting plans, funding applications, and follow-up conversations that can feel more like a relay race than a team effort.

Some catchment groups and regional council land managers are starting to try a different approach. By working together - and using a shared mapping platform to bridge the gap - they're finding that collaboration saves time, reduces friction, and gets more trees in the ground.

Here's what that collaboration can look like in practice.

The problem worth solving

Catchment group coordinators spend a lot of time on the ground with farmers. They build relationships, understand what's happening on individual properties, and can spot where erosion risk is real and where the appetite for action exists. But when a farmer raises erosion and planting as a concern, coordinators often hit a wall. Funding criteria, planting specifications, species selection for specific slope conditions - that's specialist territory, and trying to answer those questions on the fly isn't a great use of anyone's time.

Regional council land managers, on the other hand, know the funding landscape inside out. They know which slopes need attention, which species suit which conditions, and how to navigate grant processes. What they don't always have is an easy way to visualise a farmer's land before a site visit - or a warm introduction to farmers who might benefit from their support but haven't yet raised their hand.

Both groups are working hard. But they're often working in parallel rather than together.

What a joined-up approach can look like

One model uses a digital mapping platform as the shared workspace for farmer conversations. In this case, the CarbonCrop platform.

Here's what a typical flow might look like:

• A catchment group coordinator visits a farmer and, during that conversation, identifies that the farmer is interested in planting to stabilise erosion-prone areas. Rather than trying to answer detailed questions about species, funding, or planting specifications - which isn't their area - the coordinator uses the platform to map out the areas of interest together with the farmer. They draw polygons over the relevant land, note the rough areas, and create a visual picture of what the farmer is thinking.
  

• That shared view is then passed to the relevant regional council land manager before any formal site visit takes place. The land manager arrives already oriented - they can see what the farmer has in mind, which areas are being considered, and roughly how much planting might be involved. Instead of spending the first part of a visit just establishing context, they can get straight into the detail: which species suit the conditions, what the slope and wind exposure mean for pole selection, what the funding options look like, and what the next steps are.
  

• The farmer gets a more useful visit. The land manager gets to focus on what they're good at. And the coordinator gets to hand off confidently, knowing the conversation will actually go somewhere.

Tip: If you're a coordinator who's already using a mapping platform with farmers, it's worth flagging to your regional council contact that the shared view exists. A quick message saying "I've been out to see [farmer], they're keen to explore planting on these areas - I've mapped them out, happy to share" can be all it takes to kick things off.

The benefits add up quickly

For regional council land managers, the preparation time saved is significant. In some cases, a remote review of the mapped areas followed by a targeted conversation can move things forward without anyone getting in the car.

There's also a practical benefit for planning ahead. When multiple farms in a catchment are mapped and their planting intentions are visible in one place, it becomes easier to anticipate the species and volumes needed across the season - which can help with pole supply and nursery orders.

For coordinators, it removes the pressure of being the expert on everything. Having a clear handoff point means they can focus on what they do best: building farmer relationships and keeping the process moving.

A starting point, not a fixed formula

This isn't a prescribed programme or a guaranteed workflow. Every catchment is different, every farming operation is different, and the relationship between coordinators and land managers will vary too. Some land managers will want to be involved early; others will prefer to step in later. Some farmers will take to digital mapping tools enthusiastically; others will want a conversation first.

What's emerging is less a fixed process and more a shared attitude - that getting the right people talking earlier, with better shared information, tends to produce better results. The tools help. The flexibility to adapt matters just as much.

When a coordinator can say to a farmer, "I don't know the answer to that, but I know exactly who does, and I'll get them involved," that's good collaboration - not a gap in knowledge.

Interested in exploring this for your catchment or council?

CarbonCrop works with catchment groups and regional councils across New Zealand. If you're curious about how the platform could support collaboration between your group and your regional council - or if you're a land manager who wants to explore what a joined-up approach might look like in your area - we'd love to have a conversation.

Get in touch with the CarbonCrop team >