11 October 2013

Forestry is delivering a massive economic benefit to the Gisborne/East Coast region and, with an expected boom in log exports, by 2020 one in 10 people could earn a living from the sector, according to a new economic study.

Forestry is worth more than $225 million a year in the region, overtaking sheep and beef farming, at $206m, the report by Waikato University shows. Including the spillover effect into other activity there was a "flow-on" value of $383m from forestry.

Gisborne is already the third largest export producer of logs, worth about $208m a year, behind Tauranga in top spot and Whangarei in second place.

By 2020, the forestry sector will be worth $328m, the report says, creating another 630 jobs, with the total wage and salary bill likely to rise by $55m.

The report, commissioned by the Eastland Wood Council, shows there are more than 1600 fulltime jobs in the forestry sector in the region. The jobs in forestry are about the same as all the jobs in manufacturing, building, health and business services combined, the report shows.

Source: Story by James Weir Stuff Business Desk. To read the full story, click here.