Caring for the land: Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture Inc.

Across Selwyn, alongside Environment Canterbury, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Lincoln University and the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai, a network of local groups actively cares for the environment, including Te Taumutu Rūnanga, Te Ara Kākāriki, and Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture.
For over 20 years, Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture has been a grass-roots organisation helping farmers in the area work with legislation around land use. Its kaupapa also includes the protection of natural resources, developing sustainable farming practice, and upholding the wellbeing of the rural community. Its environmental project, Tinaku, was formed in 2020 to enhance Ellesmere’s environment, waterways, and biodiversity, upholding the values of mahika kai (natural resources that sustain life), as well as creating jobs.

Kei te whakaaturia
On display
A library of traps
The Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture trap library was set up in 2022 to help farmers make a positive contribution to the national Pest Free 2050 goal by creating a pest-free buffer in the Taumutu area. Members are encouraged to set traps along the waterways feeding Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere.
The trap library holds 60 DOC250 traps which kill rats, hedgehogs, and carnivorous mammals known as mustelids (stoats, weasels and ferrets). The library also includes 20 plastic Trapinator traps for possums, and six AT220 traps, which are an auto-reset kill trap for rats and possums.

Image: Exhibition of a wooden DOC 250 and a plastic Trapinator trap from the Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture trap library, at Te Ara ?tea. Photographed by Michelle Sim.

Ellesmere College students gain valuable woodworking and building skills by constructing the tunnels required for some traps used in the Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture trap library (2022).

Image courtesy of Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture Inc.

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Caring for the land: Ellesmere Sustainable Agriculture Inc.