18 April 2011

The Government has no plan for the future of forestry, says Greens forestry spokesperson Catherine Delahunty.

"Statistics released last week by the Ministry of Forestry shows that New Zealand planted a net 4300 hectares for the year ended April 1st 2010 (6000 ha of new plantations and 1700 ha deforested) which is a small increase, but a world timber famine is approaching," she said.

"This timber shortage is, in part, due to growth in the Chinese market and will be exacerbated by the need to rebuild Japan. However, we cannot increase our timber exports much because we are constrained by the amount of forest we have available for harvest."

Ms Delahunty says forestry is not the kind of industry that can be left to the short-term vagaries of the market if we want to make the best of what we can produce.

"The latest statistics show that we are not replanting forests fast enough to meet global demand and we are not planning beyond raw log production from a single species. The Green Party is keen to support long term forestry planning with a strong focus on sustainability.

"Last year we produced the Green New Deal on forestry to showcase the opportunity to plant more diverse forests, create jobs and invest in climate protection. However the government’s hands-off approach means we will not be ready for the global wood shortage and the growing consumer interest in sustainable and certificated forests. To meet China’s high demand for logs into the future, we need a more vigorous planting programme, but the real opportunities in forestry haven’t even been considered by the government."

Source: Green Party website