A National Forest Policy at last…….. what now?

AFTER FOUR YEARS OF DISCUSSIONS – LENGTHY ONES, I’M TOLD – NEW Zealand now has its own National Forest Policy.

It’s not a long document. Just seven pages, in fact. But don’t let that compact size fool you because the importance of having such a policy is profound.

While it’s stating the obvious to say that forestry plays an important role in our economy, it has tended to be treated like a political football at times.

According to the team that put together the forestry policy, under the umbrella of the NZIF, this sort of treatment means decisions made at a political level can sometimes affect forestry significantly. This can range from climate change and water quality to overseas investment, taxation and land use, with little regard for the overall value that healthy, well-managed forests operating under a comprehensive forest policy could deliver to our nation.

Why is that important?

Unlike most other industries, forestry operates on much longer business cycles, aligned to harvests that take place every 25-to-35 years for Radiata and much longer for species like Douglas-fir and Redwood.

So a forest owner who plants under one set of rules could be seriously disadvantaged by decisions made after those trees have gone into the ground. And yes they can also gain an advantage with some changes, but that doesn’t seem to happen very often.

Foresters in other countries face the same challenges, but the smart nations have recognised this and created their own national forest policies in order to protect them over their long lifespans, which can range up to 120 years between harvests in places like Finland.

Hence, the reason why concerned senior foresters in New Zealand got together to draw up their own national policy to protect the integrity of our forests – both plantation estates and natives – that they hope will be a guiding document for future governments to work with.

They took that decision because the previous National administration didn’t think it was necessary for a government to create such a policy. The current Labour/NZ First + Green coalition is more sympathetic and Forestry Minister Shane Jones has now been presented with the final document to consider.

Let’s hope he decides it’s good enough to present to his cabinet colleagues as a document to be adopted by a more enlightened administration.

Here at NZ Logger, we think it’s important enough for everyone to have the opportunity to read the National Forest Policy document too, and it’s now posted on our www.nzlogger.co.nz website.