Your Catchment Group Coordinator
Sarah Thorne
027 588 5200
sarah@thrivingsouthland.co.nz
Catchment Group Contacts
Catchment Group Email
makarewaheadwaters@outlook.com
Alexis Wadworth
021 225 9677
Mark Thomson
027 276 4392
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About Us
The Makarewa Headwaters Catchment Group began in May 2019, bringing together a mix of sheep, beef, dairy, and deer farmers, all with strong links to their community and local schools. They are proud of their special part of Southland, and their group formed to better understand and manage farming practices, protect water quality and biodiversity, and share knowledge across the community.
With a core team of 10–12 locals, and a wider network of over 100 people, they meet regularly at Otapiri Hall for their meetings and events, involving community and science. Everyone’s welcome—whether you're keen to learn, lend a hand, or just stay connected.
In 2025, Makarewa Headwaters were the Southland Balance Farm Environment Awards Catchment Group showcase for their inspiring energy and passion for their community, working together to reduce animal pests, and also received a highly commended in the Environmental Action in the Community Awards at the 2024 Environment Southland Community Awards for this work.
Catchment Area
The group covers the Lora and Otapiri Gorges catchment area east of State Highway 96. It includes the headwaters of the Otapiri, Lora, and Makarewa streams – with beautiful, diverse landscapes that feed into the wider Southland environment.
Recent Events
In August, the Makarewa Headwaters Catchment Group held a fantastic working bee at their community restoration site along the Makarewa River in the Lora Gorge. Volunteers from Westpac joined Catchment Group families to add a picnic table, lay a gravel path, care for the plantings and plant more native plants (sourced from their local Community Nursery and gifted by Mid Oreti Catchment Group, Te Tapu o Tāne and local residents). It was a brilliant day of teamwork, laughter and fantastic progress.
The group also recently installed Catchment Group signs across the area, finished their community nursery shadehouse, and secured funding from Westpac and Thriving Southland to establish ungulate exclusion plots in nearby bush; helping monitor the impact of their restoration efforts. All this work has been supported by Westpac Water Care grants & Thriving Southland – great teamwork!
Projects
This is the group’s flagship initiative, focused on understanding and managing the impact of feral ungulates—deer, pigs and goats—on the catchment, and reducing their impact to improve biodiversity and water quality.
Using community knowledge and expert support, Phase 1 saw the group gathering information on the scale of the problem (including population estimates), the health of the bush and the effect of these animals on biodiversity values, and the financial and Greenhouse Gas impact to the catchment.
Thriving Southland and a Westpac Water care Grant is funding the next step to set up ungulate exclusion plots in the bush to monitor regeneration as feral pest ungulate numbers are reduced through the knockdown phase (Phase 2) and maintenance (Phase 3).
The group continues to work with their community, and other local groups and agencies, to continue to reduce feral ungulate numbers until they can be maintained at a level which supports healthy bush and farmland.
Alongside this project, they’ve created a welcoming community space by the Makarewa River, complete with a picnic table, gravel path and native plantings, along with installing Catchment Group signs and setting up a community native plant nursery. These projects are all linked, bringing together their community and helping people protect what makes this place special.
Community Restoration Area – Lora Gorge
Installation of Catchment Group signs across the area
Community Native Plant Nursery
1 Km Each Way Community Roadside Rubbish Pick-Up (with Greater Dipton and Mid Oreti Catchment Groups)
Supporting the Restoration of Kowhai Reach
Co-hosted Mid & Lower Oreti Bus Trip
LUCI Ag Catchment Study with Ravensdown
The Great Gorge Clean Up
Thriving Southland is a community-led group with a vision to create a prosperous Southland, healthy people, healthy environment from the mountains to the sea.
CONTACT US
25 Don Street,
Invercargill 9810
