Forestry in New Zealand
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Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
has a history starting with European settlement in the 19th century and is now an industry worth seven percent of annual revenue. Much of the original native
forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...
was burnt off and logged, however forests have been extensively planted, predominantly with fast-growing cultivars of the Monterey Pine. Wood chips, whole logs, lumber and paper products are exported from New Zealand.
Deforestation in New Zealand Deforestation in New Zealand has been a contentious environmental issue in the past, but native forests (colloquially called "the bush") now have legal protection, and are not allowed to be tampered with by humans. Pre-human forest cover Since N ...
on public land attracted opposition with protests and environmental groups becoming very active until it ended in 2000. Logging of native forests now only occurs on private land if it is shown to be sustainable.


History

Milling of New Zealand's extensive native forests was one of the earliest industries in the European settlement of the country. The long, straight hardwood from the
kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...
was ideal for ship masts and spars. As the new colony was established, timber was the most common building material, and vast areas of native forest were cleared.
Rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...
,
tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane a ...
, matai, and miro were the favoured timbers. The Monterey pine (''
Pinus radiata ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico ( Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the ...
'') was introduced to New Zealand in the 1850s.New Zealand Official yearbook, 1990 It thrived in the conditions, reaching maturity in 28 years, much faster than in its native California. It was found to grow well in the infertile acidic soil of the volcanic plateau, where attempts for agriculture had failed. Thomas William Adams experimented with ''P. radiata'' and other trees in Canterbury from the 1870s, and promoted the early forestry industry. The Government initiated planting of exotic forests in 1899 at
Whakarewarewa Whakarewarewa (reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning ''The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao'', often abbreviated to Whaka by locals) is a Rotorua semi-rural geothermal area in the Taupo Volcanic ...
, near Rotorua. This was to address growing timber shortages as slow-growing native forests were exhausted. In the 1930s, vast areas of land were planted in ''Pinus radiata'' by relief workers. The largest tract was the 188,000-hectare Kāingaroa forest, the largest plantation forest in the world. As the major forests matured, processing industries such as the
Kinleith Mill The Kinleith Mill is a pulp and paper plant located at Kinleith, Tokoroa, New Zealand. It is one of eight mills operating in the New Zealand pulp and paper industry. It is currently operated by Oji Fibre Solutions, formerly Carter Holt Harvey K ...
at
Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the ...
and the
Tasman Mill The Tasman Mill site is a pulp and paper mill located on Fletcher Avenue just outside the town of Kawerau in New Zealand. The Tasman Mill site is the largest single employer in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region. Three pulp or paper companies pre ...
at
Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
were established.


Plantation forests

Plantation forests of various sizes can now be found in all regions of New Zealand except Central Otago and Fiordland. In 2006 their total area was 1.8 million hectares, with 89% in ''Pinus radiata'' and 5% in Douglas fir (''
Pseudotsuga menziesii The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
'') Log harvesting in 2006 was 18.8 million m3, down from 22.5 million m3 in 2003. This is projected to rise as high as 30 million m3 as newer forests mature. The value of all forestry exports (logs, chips, sawn timber, panels and paper products) for the year ended 31 March 2006 was $NZ 3.62 billion, rising to $NZ 5 billion in 2018. Australia accounts for just over 25% of export value, mostly paper products, followed by Japan, South Korea, China and the United States. In 2018, wood products were New Zealand's third-biggest export (dairy products and meat were the larger), and forestry accounted for approximately 3% of national GDP, directly employing 20,000 people. On the global stage, the New Zealand forestry industry is a relatively small contributor in terms of production, accounting for 1% of global wood supply for industrial purposes.


Woodchipping

Softwood and hardwood wood chips are exported from New Zealand.


Opposition to native forest logging


Legislation

*
Forests Act 1949 The Forests Act was an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand in 1949. The Act is administered in the Ministry for Primary Industries. See also *Forestry in New Zealand Forestry in New Zealand has a history starting with European settlement ...
* Forests Amendment Act 1993


See also

*
Conservation in New Zealand Conservation in New Zealand has a history associated with both Māori and Europeans. Both groups of people caused a loss of species and both altered their behaviour to a degree after realising their effect on indigenous flora and fauna. Protected ...
*
Kauri Museum The Kauri Museum is in the west coast village of Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand. The museum, to the south of the Waipoua Forest, contains many exhibits that tell the story of the pioneering days when early European settlers in the area extract ...
*
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (New Zealand) The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (in Māori, ''Te Manatu Ahuwhenua, Ngāherehere'') was a state sector organisation of New Zealand which dealt with matters relating to agriculture, forestry and biosecurity. It was commonly known by its ...
* New Zealand Arboricultural Association *
New Zealand Forest Service The New Zealand Forest Service was originally established in 1919 as the State Forest Service. The State Forest Service changed its name to the New Zealand Forest Service in 1949, at about the same time that the Forests Act of 1949 passed through ...
* ''
New Zealand Journal of Forestry The ''New Zealand Journal of Forestry'' is the journal of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry. It publishes articles on a wide range of forestry-related topics, primarily on issues that are relevant to New Zealand and the South Pacific region. ...
'' * Timberlands West Coast Limited


References


Notes


Further reading

*Roche, Michael; (1990) ''History of New Zealand Forestry''. Wellington: GP Print Ltd. *Boon, Kevin; (2005) ''The Forests: Developments in New Zealand History''. Waiatarua Publishing. *


External links


Ministry for Primary IndustriesNew Zealand Institute of ForestryNZ Wood
- industry promotional website {{DEFAULTSORT:Forestry In New Zealand