Sam Gibson is looking forward to the premiere of the documentary Think Like A Forest, which focuses on the native forest restoration work being done through the initiative Recloaking Papatūānuku.
Sam Gibson is looking forward to the premiere of the documentary Think Like A Forest, which focuses on the native forest restoration work being done through the initiative Recloaking Papatūānuku.
Gisborne bushman and conservationist Sam “The Trap Man” Gibson is the host of a TVNZ documentary that sheds light on the restoration of native forests in New Zealand.
Think Like a Forest is a documentary about the Pure Advantage charity’s Recloaking Papatūānuku – a nationwide environmental initiative aimed at restoringnative forest.
It premieres at the Beehive in Wellington on August 20 and will have its first screening on TVNZ from August 21.
Gibson is eagerly awaiting the documentary premiere, which he described as “exciting”.
Filming was done in the South Island and Tairāwhiti, he told the Gisborne Herald.
“Firstly we went down to Canterbury to meet a lot of scientists and farmers and landowners who are doing similar things to what we are doing up in Tairāwhiti.
“We [then] came home and spoke with many of our community leaders who are building resilience into our landscapes through forests.”
Among the local identities involved are Graeme Atkins, Renee Raroa, Mere Tamanui, Dame Anne Salmond, Sam Rowlands and Malcolm Rutherford.
“All those great locals that ... especially since the cyclone, have been heavily invested in building that resilience into our landscape through trees, through native forests.
“Recloaking Papatuanuku is a proposal looking to establish and restore 2.1 million hectares of native forests across New Zealand in the next 10 years in those areas of land that are susceptible or that are high-risk,” Gibson said.
“Through what we saw through the cyclone [Gabrielle], there’s no forest on steep hill country that is Class 7 and 8 [Land Use Capability classification].
“It’s really susceptible to slippage and what we also know is that forest slows down water and can mitigate a lot of that flooding risk lower down in our catchments.”
Gibson said the leaders involved with Recloaking Papatuanuku were working hard to address such issues.
“A lot of them also are figuring out the market drivers to be able to plant native forests on the steeper hill country ... because we know that it needs to stack up financially for our region.”
Gibson said restoring forests could also help native birds and animals by providing more habitat space.
“It’s a win-win ... it’s a win for ecology, it’s a win for resilience in the landscape and it’s a win for our communities that are looking at Niwa data for the next 90 years – it does speak to higher-intensity rainfall events.
“Without these forests regulating that water flow, we stand to see more flooding in the region.
“One of our key tools to mitigating that flooding is planting those forests and in areas [of] our most unproductive farms.”
Gibson said there were people and organisations in New Zealand who were working hard to help the environment.
“We’ve got an incredible team of practitioners right across the country that are ... there to help support landowners ... We have got East Coast Exchange, we’ve got the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre. We’ve got a lot of great catchment groups that are starting to establish this work.”
This work was important for generations now and in the future.
“Forests have a whole stack of other benefits as well, you know ... There’s so much yum food in our forests that I think tamariki can’t help but love spending time in our forests.”
Forests also played ”a big role in healing us", he said, referring to them as “food cupboards” and “pharmacies” ... “and with our rongoā Māori traditional holistic healing] as well.”
Tairāwhiti could be a beacon to help people in other areas of New Zealand understand and connect with their forests, Gibson said.
Tairāwhiti was home for people of many environmental skills and was “a real stronghold” as a “connection to forests”.
“A lot of other regions can learn from us in that way.”
Sam "the Trap Man" Gibson in his happy place. Gibson is hosting the documentary Think Like A Forest, which will have its first screening on TVNZ on August 21.
A screening of the documentary will take place at the Dome Cinema on September 3 at 5.30pm, hosted by the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre. After this, there will be a question and answer session with the producer and cast, and a panel discussion. The Dome will have the bar open and pizzas can also be ordered.
