Politicians urged to listen to rural voice
Forestry Minister Shane Jones has again set out to quell farmers’ fears about the Government’s Billion Trees Programme.
He has hit back against the narrative that farming is under threat from forestry. He said those claims were not backed by facts and had commissioned a deep dive into the programme’s operation to set the record straight.
It comes as hundreds of farmers look set to descend on Parliament today as part of a protest organised by farming lobby group, 50 Shades of Green.
Andy Scott from the group said 370 had registered their attendance and he understood more than 1000 would take part to demonstrate they would not be ‘‘ridden over roughshod by a political agenda.’’
The group, which Scott said is supported by many outside the farming sector, believes farmers are being painted as environmental vandals by the Government and will ask for a fair go on emissions, water regulations, land use changes and mental health.
The group says the Billion Trees Programme is threatening the viability of rural New Zealand and wanted to urge politicians to listen to the farming community, he said.
His message to politicians was their current policies were doomed to fail and the blanket planting of pine trees was a failed concept.
The group was not denying climate change or opposed to the programme but believed it could be done in a more sensible way.
‘‘The selling of whole farms to be converted to the blanket planting of pine trees that will never be pruned, harvested or employ anyone, is no good to country.’’
Scott said he did not blame those buying farms or selling up – it was the Government incentivisation that was doing the damage and leading to the devastation of the communities.
Jones said he would meet the protesters and respectfully point out the facts.
He said he understood their concerns but fully accepted they believed more could be done to moderate where forests are grown.
Jones said he had asked officials for analysis on this and to double check that Overseas Investment Office (OIO) processes were being regularly adhered to.
He asked officials to ascertain how much productive farmland had gone into plantation forestry.
He has ordered a probe into what regulatory changes would be needed if the Government wanted to confine forestry to the more precipitous part of the country.
The Government was not subsiding whole farm conversions or allowing foreign carbon speculators to buy up farms, and plant permanent forests for carbon credits, he said.
‘‘The OIO did not give a green light to carbon farming – anyone wanting to buy land for that will be forced through a very arduous process.’’
About 73 per cent of the commercial forestry sector was already owned by foreigners, he said.
The streamlined rules for offshore investors only applied to production forests so those who believed the rules were being gamed by offshore carbon speculators were wrong.