Forestry proactive, pays its way

Julian Kohn

Opinion

Readers may be interested to understand the facts of what Dame Anne Salmond is commenting about in her letter of November 7, 2017 (Forestry here far from FSC theory).

1. Of the three companies that are FSC certified in this district, two, Juken New Zealand Ltd and Hikurangi Forest Farms Ltd, are both heavily invested in processing in this region.

2. The three FSC-certified companies account for approximately half of the total afforested area in this region.

3. These companies, along with all forest owners, have been and still are ratepayers, just like everyone else. Unlike others, there has been a weighting on their rates for road maintenance of 4x for quite some years. Additionally, all are paying Road User Charges on trucks and any diesel vehicle that uses those roads.

4. There is no expectation that local ratepayers should subsidise the industry.

The Eastland Wood Council (EWC) has been engaged with the Ministry for Primary Industries, Gisborne District Council and Federated Farmers for some months with a view to coming up with a solution to the roading funding shortfall.

The local industry has been very proactive on the matter and its position is that it is happy to pay its share of the cost of maintaining the roads, but it has to be on a fair and equitable basis along with every other road user in the district.

A business case is being prepared to present to the Government at the end of the year. This is an issue which is facing regional New Zealand and needs to be addressed at a national level.

5. Sediment and slash is generated from a combination of exotic and native forests as well as farmland. The vast majority of the region’s land is in farmland or native bush/shrub.

There is plenty of scientific information available that demonstrates the long-term benefits of forests for soil retention, water quality, biodiversity and social advancement.

It is unfortunate that everyone seems to focus on the one to two year period when trees are harvested, rather than the other 25 years when the forests are of enormous benefit to the region for all sorts of reasons.

I would suggest uninformed comment such as this does no one any good, and certainly does nothing to promote the economic, social or the environmental aspirations of the region. The EWC has, on a number of occasions, extended an invitation to Dame Anne. However, to date this offer has not been taken up.