Management of Crown Forests
MAF has forestry responsibilities which are a key component of our business but which do not necessarily directly contribute to our identified outcomes.
Crown Forestry is the business unit within the Forest Management Group that administers the Crown's interest in:
- 41,640 hectares in 25 forests geographically spread throughout New Zealand's North Island. Of the forests, 17 are forests planted on land leased from Maori land owners.
- 12 afforestation leases where Crown land has been leased to other parties for forestry purposes.
- Tarawera Forests Ltd.
- A portfolio of Forestry Encouragement Loans established under the Forestry Encouragement Loan Regulations (1967). This portfolio had a value at December 2003 of $26.1 million.
This is a commercial operation and represents 20 percent of the MAF Departmental and Non-departmental expenditure and 27 percent of the MAF Departmental and Non-departmental revenue.
Crown Forestry is currently the eighth-largest forest grower in New Zealand (Figure 4), responsible for managing a commercial forestry business that will deliver expenditure of $64 million and revenue of $77 million during 2004/05. Crown Forestry has a policy of being prepared to sell its forestry interests. This policy has seen the Crown's interests in a number of lease forests sold outright to Maori lessors who have then taken full ownership of the forests concerned. Other leases have been varied with the Crown progressively returning land to lessors after harvesting is completed.
Crown Forestry's core responsibilities of achieving the best long-term returns from the forestry assets and selling these assets for a commercial return as and when able, contributes indirectly to MAF outcomes. Specifically, the work of Crown Forestry has some impact on both the Maori development aspects of the Ministry's sector considerable benefits to MAF's overall capability. In particular:
- A direct entrée/insight into the planted production forestry sector and linkages with key players in the forestry industry.
- Direct linkages with a number of Maori trusts Registered public company 45% and incorporations.
- Staff accredited as forestry and forest land (data sourced from Statistics New Zealand) experts.
Figure 4: Forest Ownership
2 “Central Government” forests are predominantly Crown owned forests on Maori lease hold land. These forests are managed by MAF.
Contact for Enquiries
Strategy and Performance Group
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0738
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