Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

has a history starting with European settlement in the 19th century and is now an industry worth seven percent of annual revenue. Much of the original native

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

was burnt off and logged, however forests have been extensively planted, predominantly with fast-growing cultivars of the Monterey Pine. Wood chips, whole logs, lumber and paper products are exported from New Zealand. Deforestation in New Zealand on public land attracted opposition with protests and environmental groups becoming very active until it ended in 2000. Logging of native forests now only occurs on private land if it is shown to be sustainable.

History

Milling of New Zealand's extensive native forests was one of the earliest industries in the European settlement of the country. The long, straight hardwood from the kauri was ideal for ship masts and spars. As the new colony was established, timber was the most common building material, and vast areas of native forest were cleared.

Rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

, matai, and miro were the favoured timbers. The Monterey pine ('' Pinus radiata'') was introduced to New Zealand in the 1850s.New Zealand Official yearbook, 1990 It thrived in the conditions, reaching maturity in 28 years, much faster than in its native California. It was found to grow well in the infertile acidic soil of the volcanic plateau, where attempts for agriculture had failed.

Thomas William Adams Alfred Albert Thomas William Adams (24 June 1842 – 1 June 1919), known as Thomas William Adams, was a New Zealand farmer, forester, churchman and educationalist. He was born in Graveley, Cambridgeshire, England on 24 June 1842. In 1862 he ...

experimented with ''P. radiata'' and other trees in Canterbury from the 1870s, and promoted the early forestry industry. The Government initiated planting of exotic forests in 1899 at

Whakarewarewa Whakarewarewa (reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning ''The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao'', often abbreviated to Whaka by locals) is a Rotorua semi-rural geothermal area in the Taupo Volcanic ...

, near Rotorua. This was to address growing timber shortages as slow-growing native forests were exhausted. In the 1930s, vast areas of land were planted in ''Pinus radiata'' by relief workers. The largest tract was the 188,000-hectare Kāingaroa forest, the largest plantation forest in the world. As the major forests matured, processing industries such as the Kinleith Mill at

Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the ...

and the

Tasman Mill The Tasman Mill site is a pulp and paper mill located on Fletcher Avenue just outside the town of Kawerau in New Zealand. The Tasman Mill site is the largest single employer in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region. Three pulp or paper companies pre ...

at Kawerau were established.

Plantation forests

Plantation forests of various sizes can now be found in all regions of New Zealand except Central Otago and Fiordland. In 2006 their total area was 1.8 million hectares, with 89% in ''Pinus radiata'' and 5% in Douglas fir ('' Pseudotsuga menziesii'') Log harvesting in 2006 was 18.8 million m³, down from 22.5 million m³ in 2003. This is projected to rise as high as 30 million m³ as newer forests mature. The value of all forestry exports (logs, chips, sawn timber, panels and paper products) for the year ended 31 March 2006 was $NZ 3.62 billion, rising to $NZ 5 billion in 2018. Australia accounts for just over 25% of export value, mostly paper products, followed by Japan, South Korea, China and the United States. In 2018, wood products were New Zealand's third-biggest export (dairy products and meat were the larger), and forestry accounted for approximately 3% of national GDP, directly employing 20,000 people. On the global stage, the New Zealand forestry industry is a relatively small contributor in terms of production, accounting for 1% of global wood supply for industrial purposes.

Woodchipping

Softwood and hardwood wood chips are exported from New Zealand.

Opposition to native forest logging

Logging in new zealand cromwell shepherd 1905

Legislation

* Forests Act 1949 *

Forests Amendment Act 1993 A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

References

Notes

External links

Ministry for Primary IndustriesNew Zealand Institute of ForestryNZ Wood
- industry promotional website {{DEFAULTSORT:Forestry In New Zealand