What is Immediate Steps?

A five year $10 million ‘Immediate Steps’ biodiversity protection and restoration programme was launched in 2010 as an integral part of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.

Through Immediate Steps, a substantial $2million each year is available for protecting and restoring biodiversity in and around freshwater habitats. Of this two thirds comes from rates and one third coming from land owners and other stakeholders.

Alongside planning and other measures, this funding will be used over the next five years to contribute to halting or reverse the decline in indigenous biodiversity associated with the increasing use of the water resource in Canterbury. Recommendations on how the money will be spent are made by community-based local water zone committees, with guidance from staff and biodiversity specialists at Environment Canterbury and from among the biodiversity strategy partners.

Why is Immediate Steps needed?

Freshwater ecosystems provide an important habitat for many freshwater fish, insects, plants and birds. They act as corridors and ‘stepping stones’ that connect different habitats and ecosystems.

Native biodiversity has declined over many years as a result of human activity as more intensive land use has meant vegetation clearance along rivers and streams, increased water or gravel abstraction and more pollutants reaching waterways.

Extensive consultation during the development of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy highlighted the declining health of the region’s freshwater ecosystems and the loss of native biodiversity as a key community concern. 

Allocating Immediate Steps funding

Immediate Steps funding is split between the ten water management zones and the regional committee. These committees determine how their share of funding should be spent in their zone to deliver the greatest biodiversity and cultural benefits.

The zone committees that have been formed to date have already allocated much of their first year’s funding for biodiversity projects in their zones. They are currently considering priority areas where funding will be focused for the remaining four years of the Immediate Steps Programme.

Immediate Steps flagship projects

The regional committee has decided on three biodiversity flagship projects to support over the next five years – Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere enhancement project; enhancement of the upper catchments of the Rakaia and Rangitata rivers; and the Wainono Lagoon project.