MT CASS WIND FARM - Conservation Management Plan

There are some really clear environmental benefits of wind farming.  The project will make a meaningful contribution to New Zealand’s renewable energy efforts while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  At its biggest, the wind farm will avoid the production of up to 82,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – or about the same CO2 output of 19,000 cars.

However, when you build a wind farm on the top of a remote hill, there are bound to be some impacts on the plant and animal life, and of course, on the landscape. So there is a balancing act that goes on and we have been working hard to achieve that balance. We have developed a “Conservation Management Plan” to offset any unavoidable impact on plant or animal life.

For example:

  • We will establish a covenant over 120 hectares of native shrubland and forest on MainPower land in which we will restrict grazing and carry out weed and pest control. This will mean the land is protected forever, long after the windfarm is gone.
  • We are going to replant around 25 hectares of similar vegetation within the covenant area to compensate for the 5 hectares that will be cleared for construction. 
  • We will relocate and propagate Canterbury limestone wheat grass and plants of other rare species that will be affected, into ecologically appropriate sites.
  • We will move as many as we can of the Canterbury gecko in the construction zone to a “safe” site on the hill.  We will also provide on-going predator-control to ensure this species survives in its new home.

 

 

 

 

 

Please click here for the full Conservation Management Plan. (File size 308 KB)