Our new office at 180 High Street is now open.
Catlins river at Houipapa
Our vision: Deeply connected and involved local communities thrive alongside sustainable resource use within the enhanced natural ecosystems that set The Catlins apart.
In July 2023, The Catlins community were invited to a public meeting to learn about Otago Regional Council's Integrated Catchment Management programme and how they could co-develop The Catlins catchment action plan.
Expressions of interest to join The Catlins Integrated Catchment Group (CICG) and act as community representatives were submitted by a range of individuals with skills and knowledge relating to all aspects of Catlins life.
Since October 2023 this group has met monthly to develop a voluntary plan that can provide a focus for any group, individual, industry or organisation looking to protect or enhance the natural environment in the Otago part of The Catlins region. These pages summarise our work to date.
Jul '23
Community Hui and expressions of interest
Sept '23
The Catlins Integrated Catchment Group formed
Oct '23 - Sept'24
Catchment action plan development workshops underway
Oct'24
The wider community engaged for input and feedback
Nov'24
Catchment action plan completed
We are using an integrated, ki uta ki tai (from mountains to sea) approach, recognising all parts of the system have a relationship with each other.
The map below shows The Catlins catchment action plan boundary:
Please wait a moment for the map to load.
The newly formed Governance Group convened at the end of January. While the group will drive the progress of the plan over its lifetime, it is currently focused on developing and assessing proposals to spend the $100,000 seed money provided by ORC.
Status: Ongoing
Over the last few months, our team has been working hard to create the first part of the Catchment Action Plan. If you're curious and want to check it out, you can download the full plan right at the top of this page, or explore our lovely StoryMap.
Status: Complete Nov 2024
Our Integrated Catchment Management team will work with the group to analyse and test the logic of the proposed strategies. This will ensure that actions achieve the goals and objectives we have set for our plan.
Status: Complete Sept 2024
The group has begun to develop goals and objectives, detailing the catchment action plan's desired success stories and communicating how we want to protect or enhance values.
We have also begun developing strategies, which outline the specific sets of actions that need to be undertaken to achieve our goals.
Status: Complete July 2024
The group has identified environmental values within The Catlins that are important, and has then identified pressures that negatively impact these values. This process is developing a shared understanding of how values and pressures interact in the system as an integrated whole.
Status: Complete April 2024
The group has agreed on the area we are looking at for the catchment action plan (see boundary map above), and that the plan will focus on the next ten years. It is intended the plan is a living document and will be updated and reviewed over the ten years with a view to ongoing environmental enhancement.
Developing a vision is a chance to zoom out and imagine the positive changes in the environment that will occur with a successful plan. Our current draft vision is: Deeply connected and involved local communities thrive alongside soft-treading resource use within the enhanced natural ecosystems that set The Catlins apart.
Status: Complete March 2024
The Otago Regional Council endorsed the plan on Wednesday 20th November and provided $100,000 to assist the implementation of the plan's environmental strategies.
We will now work with CAP partners to further develop our work programmes and prioritise the first round of on-the-ground actions.
November 2024
PDF | 6 MB
The full, comprehensive document that details what we want to enhance and protect, and outlines the first steps in doing that.
November 2024
PDF | 3 MB
A 4-page brochure that outlines the ecosystems that the plan aims to protect and enhance, and the work we need to undertake together.
PDF | 319 KB
A document outlining the scope of work for The Catlins Integrated Catchment Group (CICG) and how the group will work together. The Catlin's Integrated Catchment Group Terms of Reference: outlines the purpose of the CICG, describes how ORC defines a Catchment Action Plan, outlines the responsibilities of CICG members, describes the process of membership to the CICG, and describes the general working processes of the CICG.
If you have any pātai (questions) or whakaaro (thoughts, comments), please get in touch with our team at: icm@orc.govt.nz
