30 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT
Thursday, July 21, 2022 Wairarapa Times-Age
FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 31
www.age.co.nz Thursday, July 21, 2022
FORESTRY IN WAIRARAPA
But, when it comes to what’s being done to support these sectors, it’s hard to see much beyond the increasing legislation which is only making things more di° cult for ÿ bre investment. These changes appear to be a political move to appease an agricultural lobby that has inÿ ltrated our local government and is campaigning against a perceived swath of conversions of farmland into plantation forestry. However, MPI’s National Exotic Forest Description (NEFD) data shows that plantation forestry peaked in 2003 at 1.83 million hectares. It declined for the next 16 years to just under 1.69 million hectares. Over the past two years the area has only increased by 43,000ha to 1.74
120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000
Year Total new planting
2020
2018
2016
2014
2012
2010
2008
2006
2004
2002
2000
1998
1996
0
1994
20,000 1992
million hectares. This is not a picture of rampant forestry growth. We still have less plantation forests than 10 years ago. Like farming, forestry is a wealth creator. It produces an essential product; in our case, the raw material for a massive, nationwide new house building programme, and the future biofuel needs for sectors like dairy, as it transitions away from a reliance on coal for drying milk powder. Technicians around the world are working on ways which wood derivatives can replace coal and oil-based plastics. New Zealand is well placed to use this technology with our large dairy processing base that is highly reliant on coal. Our sawmills provide a perfect example of carbon neutrality by drying all their timber with furnaces fuelled with their own waste. Already Fonterra has modiÿ ed several of its factories by replacing coal burners with wood pellet burning furnaces. The dairy and tree crop sectors
Year ended December 1992-2020
Total new planting (ha)
The government has identiÿ ed our primary sectors as leading the way to economic recovery from recent turbulence, led by forestry and horticulture exports.
Forest Plantings and Harvest Volumes Harvest Volume (000m2)
Are we ready for a future of increased wood use and biofuels?
Harvest volume (right axis)
FOA Facts and Figures 2021
have much to be gained from a shared vision of a carbon neutral future. Latest ÿ gures from the Timber Industry Federation show there’s an additional 635,000m3 of timber available for construction this year in New Zealand, compared with the pre-covid year of 2019. And we need it. Want to build a house? Chances are you will need pine. Paper and fuel products are indispensable in the world. Plus, pine pallets make the world go round. How is all that milk powder going to get exported if it’s not stacked on pine pallets? Our primary
sectors rely on wood products for their exports: bins for apples, crates for onions and kiwifruit. Pallets for everything. Pine is everywhere! Carbon uptake by planting of new forests is the only means New Zealand has to remove CO2-e (carbon dioxide equivalent) from the atmosphere at the speed required to meet our netzero target. But in addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, building with wood stores carbon sequestered by trees while they’re growing. It’s a double win! SCION (New Zealand’s forestry
Crown Research Institute) estimates a typical New Zealand timber framed home with a ˛ oor area of 200m2 contains about 30m3 of wood and therefore locks up 27 tonnes of CO2-e. SCION’s Innovation Hub in Rotorua is a bigger example. It’s a three-storey building containing 455m3 of structural wood, storing approximately 418 tonnes of CO2-e. This storage is equivalent to the emissions from one person ˛ ying 160 return ˛ ights from Auckland to London. Impressively, it took only 35 minutes for New Zealand
Radiata pine to grow the same amount of wood used in the Innovation Hub. New Zealand already has many timber success stories with its export ports, good rail links for timber cartage and large processing base, and sawmills are large contributors to our local economies. Biofuels are poised to provide ÿ bre needs and timber will make innovation at a local scale with wood ÿ bre a very attractive investment. As farmers are faced with looming on-farm emissions payments, exotic forestry is a solution that will provide them with an o˝ set and income that can diversify their farm proÿ ts. Are our councils ready to support them? Or will the promising future for wood ÿ bre in New Zealand be blighted by legislation and an anti-tree bias that will limit any investment in the tree crop sector? It remains to be seen how our primary sectors can work together to ensure the common and continued success of our export economy while providing the carbon neutral products that customers demand. Our local councils can provide the encouragement needed for this transition to occur, but the current environment only provides ideas for regulations and not the support for the new carbon neutral future of our primary sectors that is emerging.
A silver milestone for Forest Enterprises’ Graeme Tindall The week Graeme Tindall joined Forest Enterprises in 1997 as a new chartered accountant, the company was celebrating its 25th anniversary. In fact, the 25th birthday event at Te Parae was the ÿ rst work do he attended. This year, Forest Enterprises reached its golden anniversary and it’s Graeme’s turn to celebrate his silver milestone. Graeme would be among the country’s most experienced forestry accountants. Cool, calm and collected, he is highly regarded by the Forest Enterprises team and business associates. As Managed Investments Director, Graeme leads Forest Enterprises’ Administration and Client Services teams. He is accountable for the company’s ÿ nancial services license and registered forestry investments.
of the 1990s, having established 45 investments over the decade. Twenty-ÿ ve years later – about the length of a forestry investment – Graeme is re-syndicating the company’s managed forests for the next generation of investors.
At the time Graeme joined Forest Enterprises, it was tapering o˝ its growth period and promotional campaigns
Graeme is at the heart of the company’s ownership succession. He was recruited by retired managing director
Steve Wilton while founder Charles Wallis was still at the helm. Having worked with Charles, Steve and former forestry director Dave Jervis, Graeme’s legacy knowledge is invaluable to both the new shareholders and sta˝ . Graeme is the longest serving member currently on sta˝ at Forest Enterprises, just shy of the 27 years dedicated by Charles Wallis (1972-1999)
and Steve Wilton (1991-2018). Dave Jervis (1978-2008) and forester Graham Dick (19822014) both served Forest Enterprises for over 30 years. Graeme is a keen athlete and sportsperson. He has been a Wairarapa representative lawn bowler, and in May 2021, Graeme joined an elite group of very few New Zealanders to have competed in 300 marathons!
Wildlife Management Specialists Wild animal control is a vital component for protection of new plantations and native flora. Passionate about the outdoors and the environment, we pride ourselves on being versatile with the ability to safely and effectively deliver a range of wildlife pest control services in challenging and remote locations.
FOREST & WOODLOT OWNERS… Want to maximise the return for your trees? Talk to us first for a no obligation discussion and assessment of your trees.
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Give us a call to discuss how we can help to protect your investment from wild animal damage and destruction.
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NZ FOREST WORKS
Call Rob Calder to discuss your requirements 027 283 6888 rcalder@nzforestworks.co.nz
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