Benedict Cumberbatch is putting his superhero cloak aside for a real-world mission. In an exclusive interview with Gill Higgins, he talks about the urgent need to restore nature, and argues we should be attracting more private money into conservation - an approach the New Zealand government is now backing.
The star of Doctor Strange and Sherlock is fronting a new environmental documentary, How to Live on Earth, which spells out the need to rethink how we protect nature.
It's an idea with particular relevance here. As the film launches globally, the New Zealand government is beginning to build a framework for voluntary nature and carbon markets. The approach relies on private money for projects such as native planting, wetlands restoration, habitat protection and carbon removal.
It’s one of the key approaches Cumberbatch wants the rest of the world to take. He’s glad to see this move from a country that he has a personal connection with, having spent months in New Zealand in 2020.
He arrived in January that year to play a rancher in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. By March, Covid had struck. Cumberbatch, his wife and two children spent those uncertain months in lockdown in Hawke’s Bay. "It was a very special time, actually," he says. "We felt incredibly held by you as a culture. We felt held by nature."
Many visitors see New Zealand as a clean, green country. Those of us who live here know this country faces the same serious environmental battles as the rest of the planet, and some of our Government's environmental policies are unpopular, with thousands marching in Auckland at the weekend to oppose its proposed Conservation Amendment Bill.
Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick has previously argued against environmental policies that place too much reliance on voluntary market-led solutions, saying they lack the grit and accountability required to truly address climate change.
The power of a salt marsh
Cumberbatch's message is that nature is a gift, a taonga that we should treasure, before it’s too late.
No doubt the Government hopes a move towards voluntary nature and carbon markets will boost restoration. Ten commercial partnerships have already trialled how 'nature credits' could work here. The idea is they could be generated by measurable, verified improvements in biodiversity. The credits would then be available for private investors to buy, with the money funding further conservation. This week, the Government released criteria for endorsing these schemes.
As with carbon credits, credibility is key. I asked Cumberbatch if he felt processes for measuring biodiversity success were solid. “Yes, it really is. The science and metrics are out there." He uses the example of carbon capture in a salt marsh compared with that of a rainforest. Some may be surprised, but Cumberbatch says the rate of capture by a salt marsh is up to 30 times more.
With the science now available to back the approach, Cumberbatch believes this type of investment is the future. “I think there is a critical moment right now where people are trying to value what it is to be human. And our connection to nature is a key part of that."
Every tree a stitch in the cloak
It’s a message that speaks directly to Evan Karaka. He’s the kaitiaki, or guardian of the land, at Tahi, a private restoration project in the Far North. The team has transformed 800 hectares of a run-down dairy farm into a living, thriving habitat full of native bush and wetlands.
Initiated through philanthropy, it now supports itself by selling products produced from the land, such as honey and skincare, and allowing eco-tourism.
“It’s about putting the the korowai or cloak back on Papatūānuku (earth mother)," says Karaka. It’s a job that brings him immense satisfaction. “Every single tree we plant is putting in another stitch”.
That makes at least 500,000 stitches so far. But the work also involves restoring wetlands. It’s a vital part of the conservation picture, as New Zealand has only around 10% of its wetlands intact, after intense periods of draining for pasture, urban development and pine forests over the years.
Jonnie Hughes, executive producer of the documentary, spent time filming at Tahi for another project. “It’s quite incredible what has happened there," he says. As the trees and bush have come to life, the birds have flocked into the canopies. From just 20 species some 20 years ago, to 71 now.
“They’re the seed carriers” Hughes explains. “There’s only plant diversity if the birds come back in”.
Cumberbatch is all for projects like Tahi. “It’s amazing, a common-sense progression of land management."
However big or small the project, he says, “it’s turning the green into the gold."
“How’s this for a prediction? People who own land that’s full of nature will become the richest people on earth, because biodiversity is bankable."
Watch an exclusive interview with Benedict Cumberbatch on TVNZ+.
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