Getting on With the Business of Forestry

Jun 22, 03:26 PM

Current Headlines: By CRONSHAW, Tim

Bruce Manley, New Zealand Forester of the Year, is confident a robust forestry industry will be seen in a good light once the Kyoto Protocol debate settles.

Manley said there was more tree planting going on than people would think after listening to the debate.

"You would think no-one is replanting, whereas the vast majority of forest is being planted (after harvest). Canterbury is one of the areas which is an exception, with Selwyn (Plantation Board) not replanting and converting (to other land uses), and between Taupo and Rotorua is another.

"Overall, the vast majority of areas after harvest are being replanted and forestry companies are getting on with the business of forestry."

Manley, an associate professor and head of the School of Forestry at the University of Canterbury, was named top forester this week by the New Zealand Institute of Forestry for his excellence and leadership in the industry.

He said it was heartening that international pension funds were investing in New Zealand forestry and that Minister of Finance Michael Cullen's superannuation fund had taken a stake in plantation forestry.

"They see the long-term opportunities for forestry, and opportunities for plantation forest."

The Government's decision to claim the financial benefits from carbon credits from forests planted after 1990 caused unrest in the industry, with foresters upset by a proposal that would cause them to be penalised if they converted deforested land to some other use. Manley said it was hoped the debate would be resolved when the Government makes an announcement in the next few months.

He said New Zealand needed more trees for the Government to meet its Kyoto Protocol obligations, while the floods in the Wairarapa and Manawatu have been a wake-up call for the need to grow trees to reduce flood peaks and improve water quality.

Different investors had replaced big companies such as Fletchers and Carter Holt Harvey, which had moved out of forest assets, he said.

Manley said fluctuations would always occur in the export-log market, but prices were healthier than they had been for the last few years. Pruned-log prices have steadied this year.

Before his university career, Manley led research teams at the New Zealand Forest Research Institute, in Rotorua, in resource evaluation and planning, and value-chain optimisation. His involvement in international research includes deputy chairmanship of a working group for the International Union of Forest Research Organisations in large-scale forest inventory and modelling.

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