Minister warns forestry of ‘dirty dairy’ fate
FORESTRY MINISTER, SHANE JONES, SAYS the industry needs to work hard to avoid the fate of the dairy industry, which lost public sympathy through the ‘dirty dairying’ saga.
He told members of the NZ Institute of Foresters at their Nelson annual conference their image is being similarly tainted by environmental disasters such as the Tolaga Bay inundation.
The minister says there is a possibility forestry could suffer the fate of the dairy industry and be seen as harmful to the environment instead of being a positive contributor.
Mr Jones believes the industry needs to take every opportunity to promote the sector’s importance to the broader economy and as the “heavy-lifter” in the country’s climate change strategies.
And it needs to connect with the metropolitan centres in particular, as they lack a good understanding of forestry and other provincial-based industries.
He told delegates: “There’s a lot of misinformation in the cities about what we are doing and about our industries that are rooted in the countryside.
“Things can change overnight – if you have any doubts about that look what’s happening to the dairy industry.”
Mr Jones says that while the flooding and deluge of forestry waste at Tolaga Bay may have been a localised event, it served as an “example of how a single egregious case could taint the image of an entire industry”.
He adds: “Once a perception takes root and you get an outbreak of moral panic its bloody hard for an industry to come back from that.”