Trees are the key to Southland’s future

Clearly, we need to plant more trees.

We’ve felled vast forests of them, in our enthusiasm to clear land for farm and town.

We weren’t aware then, of how much we depend on forests for our wellbeing but we know now and now is the time to get busy putting forests back wherever we can.

It’s vital that we find suitable places and get planting as soon as possible: time is of the essence and we haven’t left ourselves as much as we could have, in our rush to tame the land and make our living from it.

If we are smart, and we can be when we put our minds to it, we’ll plant a wide range of tree types, from here and overseas; trees for timber, trees for fruit and nuts, trees for fuel and trees that will grow, unharvested for many decades, drawing down carbon from the atmosphere and helping us contribute to reducing the effects of climate change.

Trees are the key to our future and Southland is the ideal place to grow trees quickly; it rains generously here and forest fires won’t be a threat to our forest-making plans, especially if we design our forests to be easily managed and protected from stormy or dry weather.

There are jobs aplenty in mixed forests; not just the thinning and felling work of plantation pine forests, but other worthwhile and financially rewarding employment that will appeal to people who like variety and working out of doors.

Invest in trees, is my advice; support anyone wanting to plant trees and if possible, help with the planting of trees whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Trees are Southland’s future; the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.

The next-best time is today.