‘Everyone needs to do more to survive’

Cape Sanctuary general manager Rachel Ward (left) is hosting attendees from the 2024 New Zealand Farm Forestry Association Annual Conference this week. Picture supplied

The 2024 New Zealand Farm Forestry Association annual conference has started in Hawke’s Bay, running through until Saturday and offering a raft of fascinating speakers.

Sponsored by Pan Pac Forest Products, the conference has attracted 230 farm foresters from across Aotearoa New Zealand and a handful from Australia, who will hear from a star-stacked programme of speakers.

They will celebrate the heroes and performers of their industry with the annual awards, and head out and about to see first-hand the rebuild and regeneration of cyclone-hit Hawke’s Bay.

Fittingly, the theme for the conference is Resilient Landscapes.

Tim Forde, chair of the Hawke’s Bay branch of the association, said the get-together was more important than ever, given the weather events.

“They have brought to the fore just how fragile our land can be,”  he said.

“As an organisation we are more about preserving the land over making money, but things still have to be sustainable.

“If you are looking to the future, get the very best of advisers to help with that all-essential planning and to have a real understanding of what land you have under your stewardship and what the best use is.”

Just planting a few trees here and there was no longer adequate, he said.

“Everyone needs to do far more to survive the next cyclone.

“I hold the predecessors of my land in very high regard. They didn’t even realise 80 years ago the excellent job they were doing of the planting and planning.”

Those at the conference will hear many expert opinions, have the chance to delve into the science behind reports, talk within species’ action groups and more.

Some of the speakers include James Powrie who will speak about the Pakuratahi Land Use Study and problems with the woody debris post-Cyclone Gabrielle, Keith Woodford on making sense out of “imponderables in a crazy world”, Mark Belton on permanent and resilient carbon forests, Mark Mitchell on a holistic approach to farming and forestry, Graham West on a computer programme he has developed, Claire Stewart on making every tree count, Damon Wise on forest operations innovations, Peter Davies Colley on small forest harvesting, Paul Millen on Dryland Forestry and Nathan Burkepile on wood waste utilisation.

Former head of analytics for the NZX Julia Jones is the keynote speaker at the welcome dinner and with plenty of experience across much of New Zealand’s rural industry, she will surely provide lots of food for thought.

Field trips include visits to Napier Port, Pan Pac Forest Products, Cape Sanctuary and Plant Hawke’s Bay.

Thursday evening’s Stihl NZFFA Awards Dinner features the presentation of the Farm Forester of the Year awards for both the North and South islands, as well as the Michael Hay Memorial Award for a younger member of NZFFA active in planting, the New Zealand Landcare Trust Award for innovation in sustainable farm forestry and the Joll Hoskings Award for exceptional voluntary work.