TDUK SupplyingTimber Issue 8 DIGITAL - Magazine - Page 29
———— FORESTRY MANAGEMENT ————
EALTH THROUGH
FORESTS
Regulated logging
Native logging is now strongly
regulated through plans
and permits on private land
and 80% of New Zealand’s
indigenous forests are publicly
owned. Around the same time
New Zealand farmers started
looking to diversify and, in the
1990s, many started planting
managed forests on lowproductivity farmland.
“In a lot of these sites, the
cleared farmland had built up
big stocks of phosphorous and
become quite fertile. Research
shows former farm sites are
20% more productive than
traditional forest sites, with the
forest industry bene昀椀tting from
that previous land use.”
Adopting FSC certi昀椀cation
Another critical shift that
emerged after the Accords
was the adoption of Forest
Stewardship Council-certi昀椀ed
rapidly renewable plantation
forests, such as those used by
Abodo.
“These planted sites are
carefully managed, with a
focus on maintaining long-term
productivity," Peter says.
The companies registered as
part of this scheme, such as
Abodo’s timber sources, also
need to have part of their forest
estate as reserves – around
10% on average.
"Many FSC-registered
companies act as stewards
for wetlands or bushlands,
managing the land to protect
biodiversity and water quality,"
Peter continues. "They should
be wearing this as a badge of
honour, but often don’t because
of the misconceptions around
pine forests in New Zealand.”
Many of these myths are
persistent, Peter says, even
though the research doesn’t
support them.
“People often believe
radiata pine is short-lived or
unsustainable. In fact, planted
pine forests can provide many
long-term ecosystem services
such as timber, recreation,
carbon sequestration,
biodiversity, water regulation,
and soil stabilisation. Wellmanaged planted forests can
maintain or even improve
soil health while supporting a
diverse range of organisms,
plants and birds, including
endangered species.
SUPPLYING TIMBER
29
“There’s also a
negative perception
that pines acidify soil,
even though our native forests
are naturally acidic. It all comes
back to your point of reference
and an understanding of the
wider context around soil
health.
“The Ministry for the
Environment’s soil quality
indicators have caused
debate over the past 25 years
because pine forests are
typically planted on some of
the poorest-quality soil and
compared with pastoral soils,
rather than native forests on
virgin soil, with which they
have many similarities. We
need better cause and e昀昀ect
separation to e昀昀ectively
compare.”
Timber is a necessary material
for many industries worldwide,
and planted forests give us
the opportunity to responsibly
produce it, Peter says: “Timber
has always been used for an
extensive range of products,
with growing populations only
increasing global demand.
“We also need locally grown
timber for essential housing.
There’s a huge opportunity
to create high-value timber
products and, in doing so,
create more jobs for New
Zealanders. Planted forests are
an excellent way to meet those
growing needs while protecting
our primary forests.”
www.abodowood.co.uk
www.scionresearch.com
SPRING 2025
Peter Clinton,
Principal Researcher
at Scion, the New
Zealand Forest
Research Institute.
THE MARKET
that help maintain the fertility
of a forest site.”
New Zealand’s approach
to planted forests shifted
signi昀椀cantly 40 years ago,
when the New Zealand Forest
Accord brought government
and industry together to
protect natural forests from
exploitation.
Peter says: "Until then, the
New Zealand Forest Service
had been harvesting native
forest and replanting it with
pine. This is not seen anymore
– we now actively prevent
indigenous forests from
clearing.”
