New forestry championship
“FORESTRY IS A HUGE PART OF RURAL AOTEAROA. IT IS ONLY fitting that we celebrate its role by creating a championship highlighting the skills required to drive forestry machinery,” says New Zealand Rural Games Founder, Steve Hollander of the inaugural Golden Loader Forestry Championship to be held as part of the Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games in Palmerston North on Sunday, 12 March.
“It has been a long-term ambition of the Rural Games to host a forestry championship alongside traditional sports that helped to build our nation,” he adds.
The Championship, funded by the Forestry Growers Levy Trust and organised by the Southern North Island Wood Council, will feature a competition in which two competitors race against each other and the clock to load and unload a truck and trailer unit in The Square. Team members from John Turkington and McCarthy’s Transport will manage the Championship.
Southern North Island Wood Council Chief Executive Officer, Erica Kinder, says the Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games provides forestry with an excellent opportunity to lift the sector’s profile. Forestry is growing, and currently contributes $6.6 billion to our economy and employs between 35,000-40,000 people, she says.
Tony Groome MNZM manages the Golden Loader Forestry Championship. He is a forestry manager with a long history in the sector, alongside Rural/Urban Fire and Land Search and Rescue.
“Only those who live near forestry blocks or work in the sector get to see this type of action, so it’s great to showcase it in the heart of Palmerston North and to the rest of the country through the Rural Games and TV3,” he says.
Entries are limited to 24 and only those who currently work in the sector and have their loader ticket can participate.
Ms Kinder says the Southern North Island Wood Council is also taking the opportunity to highlight all the skills required to make a successful forestry career, providing young people with an “invaluable hands-on opportunity” to test their knowledge and learn new skills about forestry.