FOREST TALK
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CHANGE IS COMING TO FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND ON THE BACK OF promises made by the new government. The well-flagged plans to increase tree planting and establish a new stand-alone Forest Service in Rotorua have already been set in motion.
But we are unlikely to see any real progress for at least another year, especially when it comes to new trees, as it’s too late for the 2018 plant-out season – those seedlings are already being grown at nurseries around the country. Look to 2019 on that score.
And as new Minister of Forestry, Shane Jones, realistically admits in an interview with NZ Logger on page 4, the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, so don’t expect the Forest Service to pop up suddenly in downtown Rotorua.
The intent is good and there’s stuff going on behind the scenes that will become apparent in time, so let’s be patient.
What is good to see is the enthusiasm shown by Mr Jones for forestry and his willingness to meet with industry people and others in the community and listen to what they have to say.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the previous administration is that it rarely listened to the forestry industry. And when it did, it never took much notice of what was being said.
In Shane Jones, we have an enthusiastic supporter of forestry and hopefully, that will rub off on his Cabinet colleagues when key decisions affecting our industry have to be made over the course of the next three years.
During our interview, Mr Jones was at pains to point out that he shares much in common with forestry people. He grew up in the Awanui/Kaitaia community, next to where the big Radiata Pine forests were being established along 90-Mile Beach. His family had a farm and grew trees as well. And whilst he cut his teeth in the fishing industry he says his roots are firmly planted in the soil.
Curious that his Cabinet colleague, Labour’s Stuart Nash, worked in the forestry industry and has been created Minister of Fishing, while Mr Jones’ experience in fishing has seen him get the forestry portfolio. That’s politics.
What really matters is what actually happens over the next three years. And beyond.
Planting an extra 500 million trees over the next decade is going to provide an opportunity for forestry to grow in the future, not stagnate. However, those trees have to be planted in the right place so they will grow well and be relatively easy to harvest and transport at maturity. And then it would be nice to have some more investment in wood processing to take advantage of that resource locally, instead of shipping the opportunity overseas. Shane Jones says he would like to be involved in attracting that investment here and has already established some contacts.
That’s the sort of change we all want to see.