UN recognises Lake Taupo Forest union

By CHRIS BRAMWELL in Taupo
A successful forestry venture between Ngati Tuwharetoa and the Crown has been recognised for top management by a branch of the United Nations.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN named 28 examples of excellence in the Asia/Pacific region, three of which were in New Zealand.
Lake Taupo Forest, which is a joint venture between Ngati Tuwharetoa and the Crown, was recognised as an outstanding example of a joint venture between indigenous peoples and government.
Forest operations manager Geoff Thorp said the trust had a good relationship with the Crown which had "done the right thing by us". Government funding helped establish the commercial venture with substantial and ongoing input from the 10,000 landowners, at the same time protecting their land rights.
The initial lease agreement was signed in 1969 and was for two crop rotations but an amendment in 2000 saw that reduced to one rotation. As the trees are harvested the land is returned to the trust, which now holds a third of the 31,000 hectares.
The trust expects to have full ownership by 2021. Mr Thorp said part of the reason the trust has been so successful was because of its ability to marry business and cultural aspirations with a strong respect for the environment.
"We have right from the outset given a lot of importance to the environment and as a result 27 per cent is not planted.
"If you look at our forestry arrangements and the way the objectives are written, there are four objectives about protecting the environment and the cultural aspects of the trust, and only after those are satisfied can you can grow trees."
Mr Thorp said the trust was also fortunate the land grew good trees, 20 per cent of which were exported to Korea and Japan.
The other New Zealand examples of excellence mentioned in the UN publication were Woodside Forest in Canterbury, which is a mix of plantation forest and native forest, and Forever Beech in Westland, which manages native forest.