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

Communities to have a say on farm to forest conversions

CHB Mail
16 Jun, 2023 02:35 AM3 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

Changes are proposed to the forestry standards regarding slash provisions, sediment control and harvest management plans.

Changes are proposed to the forestry standards regarding slash provisions, sediment control and harvest management plans.

The Government is to tighten up rules on controversial farm-to-forestry conversions by giving communities greater control over the planting of forests, Forestry Minister Peeni Henare says.

“These changes are about getting the right tree in the right place, by seeing fewer pine forests planted on farmland and more on less productive land,” Henare said.

“We are empowering local councils to decide which land can be used for plantation and carbon forests through the resource consent process.

“This gets the balance right by giving communities a voice, while not restricting the purchasing of land or the ability for farmers to choose to sell their farms to whomever they want.

“Amendments to the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry will see the environmental effects of permanent pine forests being managed the same way as plantation forests.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“This means many standards such as ensuring firebreaks, [and] rules for planting next to rivers, lakes and wetlands will now be required for any new forestry conversions,” Henare said.

The changes follow extensive public consultation on the national direction for plantation and exotic carbon afforestation last year.

“We have heard and acted on the real concerns, especially from regions such as Tairāwhiti, Wairoa and the Tararua District, about the scale of exotic carbon forestry happening and the potential impact to the environment and on rural communities,” said Kieran McAnulty, Wairarapa MP and Minister for Rural Communities.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“Everyone accepts we need to plant trees. The concern is that blanket planting of productive land is counterproductive. This change will assist communities to ensure that the right type and scale of forests are planted in the right place.

“Local communities, through their councils, will determine the location and the extent that carbon forestry can occur,” McAnulty said.

Henare said, “The forestry sector is important to local economies, contributing over $6.5 billion annually and providing over 35,000 jobs. It’s also important for the environment and meeting our emissions budgets and targets.

“Afforestation provides sequestration to offset gross emissions, bioenergy to support a low-carbon transition and substitution for higher-carbon materials.

“However, large-scale change in land use for exotic carbon forestry, if left unchecked and without any management oversight or requirements, has the potential for unintended impacts on the environment, rural communities, and regional economies.

“The devastation that unfolded in Te Tairāwhiti during Cyclone Gabrielle was a stark reminder of what can happen if we get land-use settings wrong. Today’s changes help us towards addressing the findings and recommendations in the recent Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use.

“For example, the proposal to enable councils to have more stringent rules for afforestation will clarify their ability to make plans and rules to control the extent and location of plantation and exotic continuous-cover forestry within their communities.

“Operational changes proposed to the forestry standards regarding slash provisions, sediment control and harvest management plans will start to improve the environmental impacts of forestry.

“The Government is also progressing further work to redesign the permanent forest category with a goal of enabling a successful transition from exotic species to indigenous forests,” Henare said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: 'Go buddy, go'- seal catches waves with locals at popular surf spot

09 Jul 03:19 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay

09 Jul 02:48 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Very efficient': Fine-sweeper car snaps more than 5000 parking violations in five months

09 Jul 02:05 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: 'Go buddy, go'- seal catches waves with locals at popular surf spot

Watch: 'Go buddy, go'- seal catches waves with locals at popular surf spot

09 Jul 03:19 AM

Michael Farr reckons the seal he filmed rode the waves 'better than some of the locals'.

Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay

Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay

09 Jul 02:48 AM
'Very efficient': Fine-sweeper car snaps more than 5000 parking violations in five months

'Very efficient': Fine-sweeper car snaps more than 5000 parking violations in five months

09 Jul 02:05 AM
Seal playing in the surf at Te Awanga Beach

Seal playing in the surf at Te Awanga Beach

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