The Case For Protecting What We've Got

What began as a childhood job in a local nursery has grown into a lifelong mission to restore, protect, and future-proof New Zealand’s native landscapes. Marie Taylor, Managing Director of Plant Hawke’s Bay, an NZI Rural Women NZ Business Awards Supreme Award - Love of the Land winner and a Queen’s Service Medal recipient, is also an expert in native revegetation and conservation. She combines decades of practical knowledge with a clear-eyed view to identify fencing challenges and find solutions

After several years as a rural journalist for The Nelson Evening Mail and several other farming publications, Marie took on a role with the QEII National Trust, helping landowners protect natural landscapes on private property. Then by 2005, she set up her own nursery, and in 2020, went into a joint venture with two of her clients, Rob and Coral Buddo. Now, Plant Hawke’s Bay Limited grows around half a million native plants a year, she said.

Those plants are eco-sourced – grown from local seed to make sure they thrive in Hawke’s Bay’s unique conditions – and they’re increasingly vital with the rise of ecological threats like feral deer.

Feral deer have exploded in numbers across the region over the past two decades, she explained. “People used to imagine deer only lived on the hills. It’s not like that anymore. The populations have grown in the hill country, and as vegetation has been damaged up there, they’ve moved downstream – right into farmland, gullies, and protected bush blocks.”

The result of an increasing deer population is widespread damage, not only to native plantings but also to pastures, crops, and production forests. “Everything is at risk unless it’s deer fenced,” Marie said. “Even near Havelock North, a friend of mine brought his lambs into the yards one summer, and a fawn came in with them. That’s how close they are now. Our best and most successful planting projects in Hawke’s Bay are actually on deer farms, because they’re protected by deer fencing.”

While many landowners baulk at the upfront cost of deer fencing, Marie believes the long-term gains make up for the short-term losses.

“If people knew the actual cost of the pasture and crop losses over time, and the damage to trees, they’d look at deer fencing very differently. It’s definitely the best way to provide a lasting solution. I’m big on spending our conservation dollars on enduring solutions.”

As an elected director on the QEII National Trust Board, Marie brings both field experience and historical perspective to the conversation about land protection. She explained how using earlier cooperative pest-control efforts can be beneficial today.

“In Hawke’s Bay, we used to have this really successful system called Possum Control Areas,” she said. “Farmers worked together, the Regional Council helped with the initial control, and the farmers maintained it. It costs them about $2 a hectare a year. It was effective, and it brought people together for a common goal. I think that model could work for deer control too.”

Collaborative fencing and pest management, she explained, makes the difference between a patchwork of struggling projects and a connected, resilient landscape. “It’s very expensive when you’re fencing small blocks. But if you can do a whole lot of hectares together – along ridge lines or boundaries – it’s much more cost-effective per hectare.”

Marie’s belief in the power of fencing comes from practical experience. She’s a trustee for Puahanui Bush in central Hawke’s Bay – a 130-hectare remnant of lowland podocarp forest, one of the largest on the East Coast.

“Deer, pigs, and rabbits were ravaging it,” she said. “We deer-fenced and rabbit-fenced it, and now there are no pigs or deer, and only a few rabbits left. The change is huge – beforehand, you could see right through the forest because the understory had been eaten out. Now it’s all grown back.”

That success story reinforces her message that fencing existing bush is the most critical fi rst step. “It’s priceless,” she said. “In New Zealand, we’ve only fenced about 10 per cent of the lowland forest on private land. The rest is still vulnerable. Once it’s gone, you can’t replace that biodiversity just by planting – it takes centuries. Protect what you’ve got first.”

When it comes to restoration planting, Marie recommended talking to the experts. “There’s a network of really skilled professionals all around New Zealand - nursery owners who’ve been growing native plants and eco-sourcing them from their local landscapes for decades. They’re the best people to talk to,” she says.

Plant Hawke’s Bay is one of many nurseries certified under the Plant Pass biosecurity scheme, which helps prevent the spread of pests and diseases through plant movement. “It’s an assurance that you’re not buying in pests or weedy plants,” Marie explained. “And it means you’re buying from a nursery that takes production and biosecurity really seriously.”

She also encourages farmers to think beyond the usual few species. “A lot of revegetation uses the same short list all around the country. I’d like to see people take the time to find out what’s special and local to their area. We don’t want one bit of New Zealand to look like the next.”

Whether protecting bush blocks, gullies, or wetlands, start strategically and think long-term. “It’s about planning sensibly – fencing ridge lines, fencing boundaries between catchments,” Marie told us. “Good fences are worth their weight in gold.”

Wetland projects, she added, often surprise people. “Once you fence them off , you’ll find there’s already a lot of vegetation just sitting there waiting to grow. Sometimes it pays to wait a little and not over-plant. You can also plant in groves to create seed sources rather than trying to cover the whole thing at once.”

For cyclone recovery and erosion control, she’s also a strong advocate for poplars.

“Their root systems grow amazingly fast and hold a lot of soil on hills. If you look at photos from Cyclone Gabrielle, the slopes that had trees or poplars stayed put. Where there weren’t trees – that’s where the slips happened.”

Marie’s message is ultimately one of collaboration and foresight. “You need people working together for good solutions,” she said. “Hunting pressure alone won’t remove deer, and relying on DOC won’t solve the problem. But farmers working together can.”

And, as climate events, erosion, and pest pressures intensify, her vision for Hawke’s Bay – and for rural New Zealand – remains focused on connection, community, and care for the land.

“Protect what you’ve got first,” she said simply. “Because once it’s gone, it’s gone.”