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Twizel, Canterbury, February 27, 2017
In Twizel (the largest town in the Mackenzie District in Canterbury) last Thursday (February 23), members of the Mackenzie Country Trust formally adopted their Strategic Framework.
This brought them one step closer to realising a local and national vision to protect and preserve the unique and truly iconic landscapes of the Mackenzie Basin, simultaneously supporting a flourishing and sustainable economy.
It has taken five years to get to this point after the release of “The Mackenzie Agreement – A Shared Vision”, the result of a difficult but productive process where opposing stakeholders agreed on a common purpose and set the course for a future Trust to bring that vision to reality.
Working with farmers
In what has been a long process, with more hurdles than anticipated to obtain national funding, the Trust is finally able to move forward and begin working with farmers to identify significant areas for protection, establish Joint Management Agreements, engage with government agencies and work tirelessly to employ novel funding mechanisms to bring that vision to reality.
This is good news for the Mackenzie Region and the trustees are determined to prove that the balance between environmental and economic sustainability can be achieved when people work together with a common goal.
About the Mackenzie Country Trust
The Trust had its beginnings in November 2010 with the Mackenzie Country Symposium in Twizel. A collaborative process with 26 interested parties, known as the Shared Vision Forum supported by then Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith, followed this symposium which ran over a 16-month period. It is the Trust’s role to implement the outcome of that collaborative process, The Mackenzie Agreement which was signed by 22 parties in 2013.
The Mackenzie Agreement and the MCT Strategic Framework can be viewed found at www.mackenziecountry.org.nz/framework
Further information can be obtained from Mike Neilson on 021-369237; Email: mike
