Fraser and Alice Chapman

As a child growing up on the family farm at Porotī , Fraser Chapman dreamt of fencing off Mātukutuku Stream and planting it in natives.

Decades later, he is doing just that in partnership with Kaipara Moana Remediation.

And Fraser believes the collaboration has his dream accelerated by 10-15 years due to access to KMR funding, and advice and support from KMR Field Advisors and project partners.

In Autumn of 2023, an area of land was fenced off specifically for a KMR project where thousands of natives were subsequently planted. The 15 species included tītoki, kōwhai, karamū, karaka, porokaiwhiri, harakeke, kānuka and more.

“If you want to do this kind of work, jump on board with KMR. It’s so fantastic,” says Fraser, a third-generation farmer on land his Grandfather first developed.

“There is no way we could do this so quickly without KMR funding and guidance. Dad and I had already fenced off our waterways but wanted to fence off other areas to retire from farming and we still had to get to planting natives. In years to come I really want to put in a whole lot of species – separate to mānuka and flax – including more ake ake, rimu and kauri.”

Fraser runs the 319ha dairy farm alongside his parents Wayne and Linda and with plenty of help from Fraser and Alice’s children Arabella, Freddie and Matilda. They milk 500 Kiwi-Cross dairy cows once a day and produce around 170,000kg of milk solids per year.

Fraser believes 100ha of hilly and less fertile land should be reserved for a beef unit, meaning they will look to reduce their dairy herd by around 100 cows in the next few years. Of that 100ha, 40ha already earmarked for retirement will be planted in natives over the next decade or two.

Fraser and Alice own a further 70ha where they run the replacement dairy heifers on. In time, they will look at a native planting regime with Kaipara Moana Remediation there too. But for now, the focus is on retiring land on the home block and doing the job right.

Fraser says his family is thrilled to be part of KMR.

“Everyone is doing their part in good faith. That includes my father, brothers, sister-in-law, nieces, nephews and employees. They have all helped with the initial riparian planting.”