Lake Hawea Station

Sheep grazing on the farm / Source: Lake Hawea Station

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WHAT WE SAY:

At PlasticFree we have the privilege of celebrating the best of the best – pioneers who aim to raise expectations about what it is possible for an industry to achieve. That’s why we love Lake Hawea Station.

This farm in New Zealand is also not content with aiming for net zero, or even just scraping into climate positive territory. Instead, Lake Hawea Station’s aim is to become ten times carbon positive – in other words, for the farm to sequester ten times as much carbon as it emits. Oh, and it also produces some of the world’s best wool.

Bags of shearling / Source: Lake Hawea Station

ABOUT LAKE HAWEA STATION

Taken over by new owners in 2018, Lake Hawea Station is a 6,505 hectare property that is situated in the Queenstown Lakes District of New Zealand and supports a flock of nearly 10,000 purebred Merino sheep and 200 Angus cattle.
The owners take an holistic approach to farming, focused on carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and care and conservation of its waterways, via regenerative farming practices.
The farm’s Merino sheep are fully traceable, and are free to range over the farm’s mix of native grasses and modern legumes like alfalfa and clover; cattle numbers were halved.
Lake Hawea Station has partnerships with knitwear company Sheep Inc, New Zealand-based leather goods label Yu Mei, and woollen adhesive bandages innovator Wool Aid.
Lake Hawea Station’s goal is to be ten times carbon positive – in other words for the farm to sequester ten times as much carbon as it emits.
In April 2021, Lake Hawea Station became the first farm in New Zealand to be certified as carbon zero by Toitū EnviroCare. At the time of writing, it reported that the farm’s current carbon statement is 5,131 tonnes sequestration against 2,538 tonnes emissions, meaning a positive balance of 2,593 tonnes.
The farm sells its products, such as its Merino wool, under its Carbon Clear brand, signalling their climate positive status.
The farm has committed to planting 10,000 trees a year, over a ten year period, in order to increase biodiversity and help sequester carbon, with 14,950 planted to date.
Lake Hawea Station sells some of its additional sequestration via the Carboncrop carbon market, but only after setting aside 3,000 tonnes of additional sequestration over and above its own emissions, to ensure that it maintains its climate positive status even after these sales.
The farm is currently home to over 250 identifiable species, including four rare and endangered species: the Olearia fimbriata tree daisy, the Clutha flathead galaxias fish, the native New Zealand falcon or Karearea, and the Grand and Otago skink lizards.
As well as farming sheep and cattle, the property also offers film and photography shoot locations, weddings, and outdoor pursuits such as hiking, hunting and fishing.