"We do need many more people but the requirements today are for highly-skilled, qualified, committed and motivated people, not people who don't really want to be there," said Eastland Wood Council chief executive Trevor Helson, according to a report in the Gisborne Herald.

The wood council also had reservations over suggestions that unemployed people should be used as a labour force to plant permanent forest sinks. While this would employ people this year and maybe next, there would be nothing after that.

It would be far better to create plantation forest and thereby employ people for the next 30 years, planting, pruning, harvesting and processing.

Forestry was seen by some as a way to absorb the effects of an economic downturn. This might have worked back in the 1920s when the Kaiangaroa Forest was planted but forestry companies today were very different from the State Forest Service in charge then.

In the 1920s trees were planted as a relief work on cheap land. There was another spurt of planting in the 1960s, again by the Forest Service, to create an export industry.

After the sell-off of state forests in the 1980s and the demise of the New Zealand Forest Service, there was a large increase in new plantings, driven this time by favourable log prices and people actively selling forestry schemes to mum and dad investors.

Any investment was now scrutinised to ensure risks were minimised and there was a reasonable opportunity for a profit in 30 years time.

Primary drivers were land prices, transport costs and sale prices. In 1990, land suitable for forestry was selling for $1200 to $1800 a hectare. Today prices were $5000 to $6000 a hectare.

"This has put the 'return on investment' out of reach at the current log price," said Mr Helson.

"Add to that the uncertainty around the ETS scheme and investment in new planting becomes tenuous at best."

Source: Gisborne Herald.