TIMBER TSUNAMI
Forestry is worth millions to the East Coast, but years of felling have created a threat to those living beneath the logging zones. Marty Sharpe and Katy Jones report.
THEY’VE been talking about the ‘‘wall of wood’’ for decades in Gisborne.
But the timber that wreaked havoc as it washed down the district’s hills during bad weather this week was not what they had in mind.
The forestry slash – scrap timber, branches and off-cuts left behind in a felling area – that crashed through houses near Tolaga Bay early on Monday was a reminder that any economic boon from forestry will not be cost-free.
At least three houses and stock were lost. Bridges and fences were damaged, paddocks were drowned in mud and debris.
Among the worst affected were the Mitchell family, who were forced to clamber onto their roof as their home began to flood in the early hours of the morning. The house is a writeoff, their possessions are gone.
Timber is big business on the East Coast and is due to grow in the next few years as trees planted by small-scale growers in the 1990s begin to be felled. Logs going through Gisborne’s Eastland Port are predicted to double to five million tonnes a year by 2024.
Studies have found the Gisborne region is where forestry accounts for the greatest share of regional GDP – more than 5 per cent. One in four households has a member whose job depends on forestry.
And locals are reluctant to criticise an industry so many across the district rely on.
Dana Mitchell and husband Shaun spent many years as forestry contractors and are aware of the criticism.
‘‘I think people need to know a lot of the wood that came down was old and had been cut down before the council clamped down on that sort of thing,’’ she says.
‘‘In the past few years the council has been really good at coming up and checking skids [log processing areas] before and after we’ve been there to make sure everything was done right.’’
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is less forgiving and says the damage should be a wake-up call for the sector.
Given the increasing frequency of weather events, the challenge to forestry is to change its economic model, which has become ‘‘hacking down as many trees in a clearfelling operation as possible’’ and ‘‘hoping and praying’’ land left behind doesn’t slip away, he says.
Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon says that while the forestry sector will support what is expected to be a $10 million clean-up, ratepayers will have to help foot the bill.
District council contractors and the Transport Agency are also expected to be involved and Task Force Green will support clearing farms.
Foon says the council began looking into the issue of slash following ex-tropical Cyclone Cook in April last year, and as of May 1, a new National Environment Standard (NES) means stricter planting and freshwater rules.
‘ We weren’t sure whether the next tsunami would actually take the house out.’ STEPHEN TATE
When Stephen Tate’s Marahau Valley Farm community was hit by ex-cyclone Gita in February, he watched from his back porch as ‘‘tsunamis of debris’’ surged down the river past his home.
‘‘We were basically one foot on the back porch, one foot heading out the door, not sure whether the next tsunami – and there were about seven of them that came down – would actually take the house out,’’ he says.
The biggest tsunami was ‘‘about 100 metres long, about 10 metres wide and about four to five metres deep’’ and completely altered the landscape.
Separate investigations are under way and three forestry companies are cooperating with the Gisborne District Council to determine how the slash accumulated.
Hikurangi Forest Farms general manager Ian Brown says the focus of the inquiry will be to see whether companies, including Hikurangi, have been complying with resource consents.
Both he and PF Olsen regional manager Chris Berry emphasise the significance of the weather, which saw about 55mm of rain falling in just an hour, a quantity Brown describes as ‘‘absolutely incredible’’.
The slash had been lying in situ for four years and survived MARTY SHARPE/STUFF Cyclone Cook. Its movement with the recent wet weather was unforseen, Brown says.
‘‘We need to cast our minds back a little bit. The reason there are trees on the East Coast is because of Cyclone Bola. For 30 years we’ve protected the downstream farms from these major soil events – the trees are holding it together.’’
He estimates the company has reduced its slash quantities by 30,000 tonnes a year by pulling full trees off-site and disposing of them, rather than leaving offcuts which he says is standard industry practice, to protect the soil. Forestry slash has also affected communities in Canterbury and Nelson.
In July last year Canterbury