We codesigned an evidence-based tool for biodiversity assessments on New Zealand farms. The tool makes it easy to assess, and report on, ‘how nature-friendly are my farm management actions?’. It is designed for a farm-level assessment, where you can:
- assess the effectiveness of your current farm actions
- explore the likely impact of changing those actions.
Simply fill in the action checklist to learn which biodiversity groups are likely to benefit.
Live biodiversity results will be displayed as you go.
Download the results as a pdf report for your records.Co-designed and locally adapted tool
Telling the NZ biodiversity story
The tool is designed to tell the story of NZ's unique farmland biodiversity and how NZ is working to enhance it. The current prototype includes 43 actions considered important for NZ farmland biodiversity management and reports on the impact for 10 biodiversity groups plus ‘overall farmland biodiversity’.
These actions and biodiversity groups were identified in consultation with over 200 farmers, growers and other professionals involved in managing NZ’s agricultural landscape; our process was guided by an advisory panel involving 20+ professionals from 16 organisations (including livestock, horticulture and arable industry bodies, consultancies, non-government organisations and government agencies).
Note: our work drew on the expertise of individual professionals so our results may not reflect their organisation’s policy or perspective.
Scoring biodiversity performance is locally relevant
Live scores are reported for each of the 10 biodiversity groups plus ‘overall farmland biodiversity’.
These scores were derived from a judgement evaluation process by a panel of 10 local biodiversity specialists, who have expertise in plants, birds, invertebrates, aquatic biodiversity and soil life. The panel involved specialists from three universities, two crown research institutes, one environmental consultancy and one central government agency.
Our partnerships
This research was initiated as part of the MBIE-funded NZ Sustainability Dashboard project. In addition to the stakeholder and research partnerships listed above, we worked in closely with The Agribusiness Group, Collins Consulting, Reflection Graphics, University of Otago, Cool Farm Alliance, Conservation Evidence (University of Cambridge) and University of East Anglia.
