Ensuring the sustainability of the South Island High Country.
Supporting and promoting High Country Pastoral Lease Farming in New Zealand
The High Country Accord is a not-for-profit trust established in 2003 to promote and protect the rights of pastoral leaseholders and to ensure the long-term economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the South Island High Country.
About 150 High Country Pastoral Leases span 1.2 million hectares of remote and challenging land of extraordinary diversity stretching from Marlborough to Southland.
The families who farm these properties have a deep affinity for the land that in many cases goes back generations. Native vegetation and low stock numbers are characteristic of these properties, and farming follows the same seasonal rhythms it has always done.
High Country farming requires a light touch; it is about working with nature, not trying to overcome it. These stations are unique, and their stories and histories set the tone for the way they are managed today.
History of High-Country Farming and Pastoral Leases
Pastoral farming in the High Country of the South Island goes back to the 1850s. However, overgrazing and rabbit plagues, along with severe climatic events such as snow and drought and various animal disease issues, saw many properties intermittently abandoned or destocked from 1880 to 1900.
The High Country Today
Whilst tradition is still deeply embedded in high-country farming, modern technology, new information, and better resources are enabling high-country families to adapt their farming businesses to meet new challenges and farm for the future.
“a management strategy that protects and enhances native plant and animal biodiversity, rivers, streams and wetlands”
High Country Accord