A note from the CRG Chair Dr Leslie Van Gelder

With the first snow on the hills and Matariki on the horizon, it’s a wonderful time of year to take a deep breath, reflect on the last few months, and then look forward to what lies ahead. I can think of no better time for the third Climate and Biodiversity Plan to be going out to the community. It’s a plan that’s built on the hard mahi of so many in the last few years to help shape this incredible district we call home. It’s also full of concrete actions to take us into the future. 

The Climate Reference Group work alongside QLDC’s Resilience and Climate Action Team as independent expert advisors. We came in at the very early stages of the new plan to talk about what values needed to be in its foundations. We also addressed what concepts needed to reflect not only our own place, but how the world needs to think about the complex challenges brought by climate change and its impact on our biodiversity. 

Over many months we all worked together focusing on the Kāi Tahu Values Framework to give us a resilient foundation. We were galvanized by the knowledge and experience of our community who’ve been doing the work to enhance, protect, and restore this extraordinary place where we live. 

In the plan you’ll see a wonderful graphic that was developed by the Preserving Legacies program. It weaves together three knowledge systems that inform much of our work — scientific, indigenous, and local — and speaks to the strength that comes from them working together. 

This plan is above all about relationships. When we are rich in relationships, we thrive. 

You’ll see in this plan the way in which partnerships play a critical role in amplifying the work of our community groups. Our partnerships allow pathways for innovation and new solutions, and help us build greater whanaukataka across the whole of our district. They connect us via our shared efforts in bringing back our birdsong, our native plants, reducing our emissions, making us resilient in the face of extreme future events, and caring for each other. As you’ll see in the heart of the plan is our belief that if we can help to restore the mauri of this place, we will also help to grow and strengthen our bonds and future with each other, too. 

There are a few new additions to this plan including a focus on the local energy system. The recent Electrify Queenstown event really lit up our landscape and spoke to the community’s interest to lead in decarbonising and finding new solutions to solve our transport dilemmas. As a district with two International Dark Sky-recognised places, we love the synergy of our being a place where we can still see the Milky Way and are looking for more ways to turn down our energy use. We’ll encourage the stars to shine more brightly! 

We do know, despite best intentions, we will have missed a few things out. So please read the new CBP. Enjoy the gorgeous takahē on the cover — who represents our newest community population group with over 80 in the Greenstone and Rees Valleys — and let us know what you think about what’s here and what else needs to be here. 

On behalf of the entire Climate Reference Group, we fully endorse this draft of the Climate and Biodiversity Plan and thank our very hard-working team at QLDC who have brought it to life. 

Kā mihi nui,

Dr Leslie Van Gelder
Chair, QLDC Climate Reference Group