Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

No 'farming versus forestry approach' for northern Hawke's Bay

RNZ
12 Aug, 2020 09:55 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Community perceptions and values: Land-use change in the Wairoa district report surveyed farmers to get their thoughts on planting trees. Photo / RNZ - Kate Newton

The Community perceptions and values: Land-use change in the Wairoa district report surveyed farmers to get their thoughts on planting trees. Photo / RNZ - Kate Newton

By Tom Kitchin of RNZ.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council insists it's not pursuing a "farming versus forestry" strategy, as a Wairoa farmer fears a report commissioned by the council is a nail in the coffin.

The report surveyed farmers to get their thoughts on planting trees in the Wairoa district.

It was written by Dr Willie Smith and titled "Community perceptions and values: Land-use change in the Wairoa district".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Council chief executive James Palmer said Smith's report was commissioned for research as part of a "Right Tree Right Place" project.

"[It] was aimed at helping us understand the perceptions of farmers of planting trees in the landscape in order to inform policy design," he said.

For the project, the regional council is assessing how it can improve erodible land in the region.

According to the council's website, planting certain trees on erodible land can improve financial returns, increase habitat for native species like kiwi and reduce the sediment run off into Hawke's Bay waterways.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The council would work with Te Uru Rakau (Forestry New Zealand) to meet its One Billion Trees by 2028.

Smith's report acknowledged the One Billion Trees programme was a threat to farmers' identities and "way of life".

"Increased afforestation is perceived as decreasing job opportunities, promoting depopulation, closing public facilities and as a threat to the survival of small, rural communities."

But he acknowledged scientists and researchers believe more forests could "significantly" counter climate change and improve erosion control, biodiversity and water quality.

"In Wairoa, afforestation challenges a history of landscape change closely tied to clearing the bush and successfully creating a vibrant pastoral economy."

The report advises the regional council to design afforestation initiatives with the community to "navigate a path through conflicting views".

Wairoa, in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Wairoa District Council
Wairoa, in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Wairoa District Council

It also recommended the council facilitate seminars and discussion groups that include farmers and forestry representatives.

Wairoa district farmer Dave Read said the report continued the trend of similar reports that believed forestry was good for local employment.

"The reality is the exact opposite," he said.

"Forestry has a density of direct employment that is less than a third of pastoral agriculture and is on a long-term downward trend."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In its last long term plan, the regional council said it had the desire to invest up to $100 million in commercial reforestation over the next ten years.

"Spending of $100 million of public money on top of existing investment in forestry would close [meat processing plant] AFFCO and turn Wairoa into a ghost town," Read feared.

Palmer told Read the council had "no interest" in crowding out private investment in plantation forestry.

"However ... we are interested in establishing whether there are opportunities for small plots of forestry within pastoral farming systems that can generate a return on investment from carbon, honey, timber and potentially ecosystem services.

"HBRC is not pursuing a 'farming versus forestry' approach but seeking to find commercial opportunities that optimise land use for environmental and economic outcomes.

"When we have used the term 'commercial reforestation' it is to distinguish from conservation and erosion control planting that doesn't generate a commercial return."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The council's integrated catchment manager, Iain Maxwell, said Smith's report was certainly not about "blanket planting of farms".

"It is in fact the complete opposite - targeted planting of the right tree in the right place to boost farm financial performance while at the same time managing areas of risk from an environmental perspective."

- RNZ

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay TodayUpdated

Diesel spill closes Napier-Taupō Rd

06 Jul 11:27 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Shame': Former Clubs Hastings CEO gets home detention for theft

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

05 Jul 11:55 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Diesel spill closes Napier-Taupō Rd

Diesel spill closes Napier-Taupō Rd

06 Jul 11:27 PM

Road cleaning crews are dealing with the spillage near the Harapaki wind farm.

'Shame': Former Clubs Hastings CEO gets home detention for theft

'Shame': Former Clubs Hastings CEO gets home detention for theft

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

05 Jul 11:55 PM
Premium
Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP