Farm-to-forestry conversions: Government announces sweeping changes

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Todd McClay. Photo / RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

By RNZ

The Government has announced sweeping changes to limit the amount of full farm-to-forestry conversions.

Farming groups and rural communities have been raising concerns over the amount of productive farmland being converted into forestry for several years now.

Now, the Government is delivering on an election promise to limit the practice.

The new changes include:

• A moratorium on exotic forestry registrations for Land Use Classification (LUC) 1-5 actively farmed land;
• An annual registration cap of 15,000ha for exotic forestry registrations on LUC 6 farmland;
• Allowing up to 25% of a farm’s LUC 1-6 land to be planted in forestry for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), ensuring farmers retain flexibility and choice;
• The ability for landowners to have their LUC categorisation reassessed at the property level;
• Excluding specific categories of Māori-owned land from the restrictions, in line with Treaty obligations, while ensuring pathways for economic development;
• Transitional measures for landowners currently in the process of afforestation who can demonstrate an intent to afforest prior to December 4, 2024.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Todd McClay said the changes delivered on a key election commitment to protect food production for farmers while providing ETS certainty for foresters.

“These measures help to protect our most productive farmland while allowing room for sustainable forestry growth.

“Landowners will retain the ability to make smart land-use decisions, enhancing both profitability and environmental outcomes.”

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said the changes provided much-needed certainty for participants in the ETS, ensuring foresters, farmers and investors could plan ahead with confidence.

“Forestry and agriculture both play an important part in our climate strategy – it’s important we are incentivising the right balance so New Zealand can have prosperous communities, increasing primary production and exports, and a thriving economy while meeting our climate goals.”

Legislation will be introduced next year and should enter force by October 2025.

Federated Farmers has welcomed the news.

Forestry spokesman Toby Williams said it was “great” the Government was taking steps to stop the “relentless march” of pine trees across productive farmland – but he said it was also important changes were made to the way New Zealand set international emissions targets.

“New Zealand’s rural communities are bearing the brunt of misguided climate change targets, as over 200,000ha of productive sheep and beef land have been planted in carbon farming in the last five years alone.

“We’re seeing schools close, rural bus runs stop, and local clubs fail as jobs are lost from communities across rural New Zealand.”

Williams said planting rural communities in pine trees simply did not align with the Paris Agreement requirement of achieving low-emission development in a way that did not threaten food production.

“Today’s announcement brings New Zealand’s emissions trading policy more in line with the Paris Agreement, by removing the incentive to take high-quality land out of farming.”

- RNZ