Action Plan in place for forestry industry

A NEW INITIATIVE BETWEEN GOVERNMENT and the forestry and wood-processing sector aims to attract skilled people into the industry. The Action Plan will initially cover the forest-growing industry, including nursery operations and the planting, maintenance management and harvesting of commercial forests, as well as some parts of the primary wood-processing industry, specifically sawmilling and wood treatment.

“Forestry will play an important role in New Zealand’s rebuild from COVID-19. The world wants our timber and wood products and the industry needs more workers. There is a huge opportunity for people to retrain and take up work in the industry. It is estimated the forestry and wood-processing sector will need another 5000 workers by 2025. That’s why it’s important for the Government and sector to work together,” says Forestry Minister, Shane Jones.

“We need to build a fit-for-purpose education and training system that equips workers to carry out the increasingly sophisticated tasks in sustainable forest management and wood-processing,” he adds.

The action plan addresses common forestry and wood processing workforce challenges by complementing and building on existing initiatives, as well as beginning new ones.

“COVID-19 has been an unprecedented global event, but one thing remains the same, New Zealand has some of the best timber and wood products in the world, we need a skilled workforce to keep this sector moving forward, and the world wants our high quality products. We need to seize that opportunity,” says Mr Jones.

FICA’s Prue Younger adds that the forestry and wood processing sector provides a huge range of economic and social benefits to New Zealand society, providing jobs as well as generating trade, income and investment. “It also provides environmental benefits, such as climate regulation, water purification and erosion control. Individuals and organisations across the forestry and wood processing sector are already taking steps to attract, train and retain a skilled, safe and productive workforce. This Action Plan, provides a cohesive framework that brings those initiatives together. It builds on work already underway, including the One Billion Trees programme. It also looks to the future and will drive further momentum towards transformational change,” she says.

The Forestry and Wood Processing Workforce Action Plan 2020-2024 and a high level summary can be found on the MPI website:

https://www.mpi.govt.nz/funding-andprogrammes/other-programmes/futureskills/

See page 42 for further details on the Action Plan.

NZL