Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti argues for sustainable land practices in court

Woody debris piled up against the Gladstone Rd Bridge the morning after Cyclone Hale struck on January 10, 2023. Photo / Ben Cowper

The Environment Court has been told that it was Cyclone Hale that showed enforcement orders were needed under the Resource Management Act, to stop unsustainable land practices in Tairāwhiti.

Then just three weeks later, Cyclone Gabriele “brought the already suffering region to its knees”.

If there were any further doubts over what was required in terms of land practices, “Gabrielle well and truly dispelled them”.

Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti (MTT) – the Gisborne group that organised a petition calling for land-use rule changes after Cyclone Hale struck in early January 2023 – was giving evidence in the Environment Court, where Gisborne District Council is seeking enforcement orders to stem the cycle of debris mobilisation from Kanuka Forest in the Waimatā Valley, near Gisborne.

There are three respondents – China Forestry Group New Zealand Ltd (CFG, the owner of Kanuka Forest), Yuxia Sun (a director of CFG until two weeks ago) and Wood Marketing Services Ltd (the forest’s manager).

Alamya Limmer, counsel representing Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti, said Cyclone Hale was “the last straw”.

“Time and time again over at least the last decade the whenua, the awa, the moana and the people of Tairāwhiti have involuntarily absorbed the impacts of destructive debris flows.

“The petition signalled a stake in the ground.

“Tangata whenua and the wider community were angry, frustrated, exhausted.”

Limmer said the parties were now closer together.

There was now agreement that some additional de-risking of Kanuka Forest needed to be done.

MTT supported a stepped approach where risk was removed as far as possible, and slash catchers were only relied on for any minimal and residual risk that could not otherwise be mitigated.

There could be no guarantee that sediment and debris would never escape again, but the potential for discharge needed to be as small as possible.

MTT did not accept that some debris cannot be removed for reasons of safety and/or practicability.

Such assertions need to be substantiated before they could be accepted, said Limmer.

The owners and managers of Kanuka Forest were not being asked to clean up any debris or sediment that had migrated into the catchment already (beyond the neighbouring Mangatu land).

“Unfortunately, the community has been – and will continue to be – materially responsible for that.

“They are only being asked to take care of what is within their forest boundaries.”

Vlasko Petrovic, a director of CFG New Zealand Limited since December, was the only representative of the company to give evidence.

Counsel for Gisborne District Council Adam Hopkinson said no other director had “fronted up”.

Petrovic said CFG was unusual in that most forestry companies had their own forestry management teams.

However, CFG relied on Wood Marketing Services Ltd to prepare Kanuka Forest for harvesting.

CFG had previously worked with another company which Petrovic said had bad practices and was responsible for issues at Kanuka Forest.

Hopkinson said there was no evidence to show that company was still working for CFG after 2019.

Petrovic said CFG had not sat on its hands.

CFG had paid for remedial work and had cleaned up the neighbouring Mangatu property hit by Kanuka Forest slash.

Cross-examined by Hopkinson, Petrovic said he was surprised that CFG held the consent for Kanuka Forest.

He did not think he had seen the resource consent.

Petrovic said he did not know about a council abatement notice or a debris dam discovered in a council satellite image, as both events were before he worked for CFG.