3 The forest growing sector
Forest owners
Table 3.1 identifies the 11 owners and managers of large-scale forests (those of 1000 hectares or more) in the Nelson/Marlborough region, and the total area of small-scale forests (fewer than 1000 hectares).
Table 3.1: Owners and managers of planted production forests in Nelson/Marlborough (stocked area as at 1 April 2005)
| Nelson (ha) |
Marlborough (ha) |
Nelson & Marlborough combined (ha) |
Percentage of total area |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weyerhaeuser New Zealand Inc | 40 800 | 19 000 | 59 800 | 34 |
| Carter Holt Harvey Forests | 25 600 | - | 25 600 | 15 |
| GMO Renewable Resources | 3 700 | - | 3 700 | 2 |
| Flight Forestry Ltd | - | 5 000 | 5 000 | 3 |
| Nelson Pine Industries Ltd | 1 900 | 1 600 | 3 500 | 2 |
| Marlborough Regional Forestry | - | 3 100 | 3 100 | 2 |
| Tasman District Council | 2 700 | - | 2 700 | 2 |
| Manuka Island Trust | - | 2 000 | 2 000 | 1 |
| UBS Resource Investments International | - | 1 600 | 1 600 | 1 |
| Matariki Forests | - | 1 500 | 1 500 | 1 |
| Wakatu Incorporation | - | 1 300 | 1 300 | 1 |
| Small-scale forest owners | 25 100 | 39 000 | 64 100 | 36 |
| Total | 99 800 | 74 100 | 173 900 | 100 |
Source
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Weyerhaeuser New Zealand Incorporated
In Nelson and Marlborough, Weyerhaeuser New Zealand acts as manager on behalf of the Nelson Forests Joint Venture. This joint venture is an unincorporated arrangement between Weyerhaeuser and institutional investors from North America and Europe advised by UBS Brinson. Of the estate, 51 percent is owned by Weyerhaeuser and 49 percent by institutional investors. The Nelson Forests Joint Venture owns the largest forest estate in the region with a stocked area of 59 800 hectares.
Weyerhaeuser manages its forests to maximise the production of high quality timber over a range of log products to suit the diverse needs of its customers. The estate includes a Douglas-fir resource of 8700 hectares. The company has offices in Richmond (near Nelson) and in Marlborough at the Kaituna sawmill near Renwick.
In February 2006 Weyerhaeuser and the institutional investors announced that they propose to sell their Nelson and Marlborough forests and the Kaituna sawmill. No sale resulted and the partners are now considering future options.
Carter Holt Harvey Forests
Rank Group Investments Ltd purchased Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), New Zealand's largest forestry company, in March 2006. Rank Group now owns 25 600 hectares of planted production forest in Nelson. This includes Crown forestry licences over 7300 hectares of state forests (Hira and Waimea). The forest management is mainly based on an unpruned sawlog regime with about 30 percent of the harvest production being processed in the company's Eves Valley sawmill.
In June 2006 it became widely known that Carter Holt Harvey's Nelson forests were included in the company's forest resources that are available for sale.
GMO Renewable Resources
Motueka Forest is a privately owned Crown forestry license of 3700 hectares that is managed through GMO Renewable Resources, a global investment management firm. Forest management operations are conducted by Tasman Forest Management, which is part of the Forest Management Group of forest consultants.
Flight Forestry Ltd
Flight Forestry Ltd manages a group of forests in Marlborough owned by the Osborne Family. The forested area totals about 5000 hectares (including joint ventures) in age classes from 1 to 32 years. Over 80 percent of the forest is pruned or intended to be pruned. Radiata pine is the main species, with small amounts of Douglas-fir and cypress species planted in selected areas. The current annual harvest of 36 000 cubic metres is mainly directed to the Flight Timbers Ltd sawmill and to the associated company Zindia Ltd for export as logs.
Nelson Pine Industries Ltd
Nelson Pine Industries Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Forestry of Japan. The company has 3500 hectares of radiata pine forest in the Nelson/Marlborough region. Forest management has developed from an unpruned regime in the pre-1984 classes to a mixture of pruned stands on selected sites (40 percent) and unpruned stands on the balance of the area (60 percent).
The forests have a sustainable harvest volume of about 70 000 cubic metres per year.
Marlborough Regional Forestry
Marlborough Regional Forestry (MRF) has 3200 hectares of planted production forest. MRF is owned by the Marlborough District Council (88.5 percent) and Kaikoura District Council (11.5 percent). The forests are administered by a joint committee of both councils and managed by Merrill and Ring NZ Ltd. The forest was established between 1970 and 1989 through an annual planting programme.
The objective in establishing the forest was to develop a multi-purpose forestry asset to provide the highest return to ratepayers as well as recreation and soil conservation benefits. The sustainable annual harvest is about 60 000 cubic metres.
Tasman District Council
The Tasman District Council has a total stocked forest area of 2700 hectares. The forest estate is managed on a sustained yield basis that provides an even harvest over the years and regular net returns to the ratepayers. The council's estate comprises seven forest blocks, the largest of which is Rabbit Island. The forests are mainly managed on a pruned regime and have an annual harvest of about 37 000 cubic metres.
Manuka Island Trust
The Manuka Island Trust owns 2400 hectares of land, 90 kilometres from Blenheim on the north side of the Wairau River. The forest area comprises 1700 hectares of radiata pine and 180 hectares of Douglas-fir. The balance is in native vegetation, most of which is reserved in two covenanted areas. The forest was planted between 1994 and 2000, with half of the radiata pine area managed for pruned sawlogs. The balance is managed on a framing (unpruned) regime. The Douglas-fir is all on steeper slopes and will be thinned to waste to produce small branched sawlogs. The forest is managed by Merrill and Ring NZ Ltd.
UBS Resource Investments International
UBS Resource Investments International (RII) owns the RII North Bank Forest, having bought it from Scollay Holdings in 1994. The forest has a stocked area of 2200 hectares, all on the north side of the Wairau River. Harvest began in 2004 and the local forest management is undertaken by Merrill and Ring NZ Ltd.
Matariki Forests
Matariki Forests is an unlimited liability, joint venture company incorporated in New Zealand. The shareholders are Rayonier Inc. (40 percent), the Rosenburg Real Estate Equity Fund (RREEF) (25 percent) and Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) (35 percent). Matariki Forests is New Zealand's third-largest forestry company, owning, operating and managing 143 000 hectares of forest. In Marlborough, the company owns the Crown forestry licence for Queen Charlotte Forest in the Marlborough Sounds, a total stocked area of 1500 hectares.
Wakatu Incorporation
Wakatu Incorporation was established in 1977, bringing a large number of individual land titles together. The Incorporation manages these lands for the benefit of the shareholders, its mission statement being "A business of the land and sea - he taonga tuku iho - for profit, social and cultural growth". Wakatu Incorporation's forestry interests total just over 1300 hectares, mainly in radiata pine. Management aims are for the production of high-quality timber through intensive tending regimes.
Small-scale forest owners
Approximately 36 percent of Nelson/Marlborough's planted production forest is held by small-scale forest owners - mainly individuals, forestry partnerships and small companies - that own less than 1000 hectares each. The impact of these small-scale forest owners is highlighted in the wood availability forecasts, which separate them from the large-scale forest owners.
Figure 3.1: Owners of Nelson/Marlborough planted production forests
Nurseries
Most of the seedlings required for restocking harvested areas and planting new forests in the Nelson/Marlborough region are produced from the nurseries named below.
Horizon2 Ltd
Horizon2 Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture between CHH Forest Genetics Ltd (owned by Carter Holt Harvey Ltd), and Trees and Technology Ltd (owned by Rubicon Ltd).
The company, which is a specialist forest biotechnology business, was formed in 2004 and has its head office at Te Teko, near Whakatane. Horizon2 produces a wide range of tree stock types and is at the forefront of radiata pine clonal development.
The Horizon2 nursery facility at Spring Grove, Nelson, comprises 16 hectares of land and has a sustainable production of 2.5 million seedlings per year. Production currently comprises mainly radiata pine, Douglas-fir and lusitanica seedlings. The company also has two seed orchards in Marlborough.
Appleton's Tree Nursery
Appleton's Tree Nursery is a family-owned business established in 1968. The nursery employs 16 full-time staff and 25 seasonal staff. Nursery operations are split between a 21-hectare ornamental nursery and a 45-hectare forestry nursery. The production forest nursery produced about 3.5 million radiata pine seedlings and cuttings in 2005. Other forestry species produced were 300 000 Douglas-fir, 150 000 redwoods, and 50 000 macrocarpa and lusitanica. The site allows considerable scope for increased production when demand requires.
Species composition
Within the Nelson/Marlborough region radiata pine is the dominant species, making up 90 percent of the planted forest area. Douglas-fir is the next most common species at 7 percent. The balance comprises cypresses, eucalypts, and other softwood and hardwood species.
About 55 percent (87 000 hectares) of the radiata pine estate is, or is expected to be, pruned to a height of at least four metres. Approximately 11 percent (10 000 hectares) of pruned radiata pine is older than 25 years.
Age-class distributions
Many Nelson forests are in their second or third rotation, and the age-class distribution is fairly even. Marlborough's forest age-class distribution shows the peak in new forest area planted during the mid to late 1990s that will enable an increasing area to be harvested in the future.
Figure 3.2: Age-class distribution for planted production forests as at 1 April 2005
Nelson
Marlborough
Nelson and Marlborough
Note
For detailed information on forest areas and age-class distribution by species refer to the latest edition of A National Exotic Forest Description.
Harvest trends
Harvest data collected from the forest industry since 1990 show the increase in harvest that has taken place in both Marlborough and Nelson (Figure 3.3). There was a major dip in production during the 1998 "Asian financial crisis" and over the last few years the harvest has been within a fairly narrow band. Recent fluctuations have been caused by the difficult marketing conditions and a significant wind-throw recovery operation in 2005.
Harvest intentions survey
A harvesting intention survey of the 11 large-scale forest growers was completed in January 2006. Growers provided data on the actual level of harvest from these forests for 2004, and the expected harvest for 2005. Their harvesting intentions for the next 10 years were recorded by species; for pruned, unpruned and chip logs; and for the area harvested. Tables 3.2 and 3.3 (page 10) provide a summary of the harvest intentions data. For detailed data by log type, see Appendix A. These figures make up the first 10 years of the wood availability forecasts for the large-scale forests in both Nelson and Marlborough.
The harvest intentions of large-scale forest owners in Nelson and Marlborough show little change in the level of harvest over the 10-year period to 2015. Their intended harvest does, however, provide a very important component of the future forest harvest. The large-scale forests are well-managed and the data provided has a high degree of reliability.
Figure 3.3: Estimated harvest, Nelson and Marlborough
Source
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Nelson
Table 3.2: Harvest intentions survey results, large-scale owners - Nelson
| Year ending December |
Pinus radiata (000 m3) |
Douglas-fir (000 m3) |
Other softwoods (000 m3) |
Other hardwoods (000 m3) |
Total volume (000 m3) |
Total area (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20041 | 1 341 | 106 | 6 | - | 1 453 | 2 787 |
| 20052 | 1 275 | 107 | 8 | - | 1 390 | 2 589 |
| 2006 | 1 124 | 161 | 40 | - | 1 325 | 2 374 |
| 2007 | 1 180 | 130 | 18 | - | 1 328 | 2 534 |
| 2008 | 1 174 | 128 | 13 | - | 1 315 | 2 594 |
| 2009 | 1 112 | 132 | 50 | - | 1 294 | 2 394 |
| 2010 | 1 141 | 120 | 26 | - | 1 287 | 2 446 |
| 2011 | 1 162 | 120 | 29 | - | 1 311 | 2 473 |
| 2012 | 1 196 | 97 | 89 | - | 1 382 | 2 545 |
| 2013 | 1 074 | 129 | 0 | - | 1 203 | 2 173 |
| 2014 | 1 123 | 150 | 91 | - | 1 364 | 2 385 |
| 2015 | 1 123 | 113 | 91 | - | 1 327 | 2 305 |
Notes
1 Actual harvest.
2 Expected harvest.
Table 3.3: Harvest intentions survey results, large-scale owners - Marlborough
| Year ending December |
Pinus radiata (000 m3) |
Douglas-fir (000 m3) |
Other softwoods (000 m3) |
Other hardwoods (000 m3) |
Total volume (000 m3) |
Total area (ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20041 | 502 | - | - | - | 502 | 1 071 |
| 20052 | 584 | 1 | - | - | 585 | 1 136 |
| 2006 | 585 | - | - | - | 585 | 1 071 |
| 2007 | 556 | - | - | - | 556 | 1 103 |
| 2008 | 569 | - | 10 | - | 579 | 1 144 |
| 2009 | 587 | - | - | - | 587 | 1 110 |
| 2010 | 514 | - | - | - | 514 | 1 002 |
| 2011 | 490 | - | - | - | 490 | 961 |
| 2012 | 445 | 22 | 19 | - | 487 | 916 |
| 2013 | 575 | 21 | 93 | - | 689 | 1 254 |
| 2014 | 590 | - | - | - | 590 | 1 141 |
| 2015 | 709 | - | - | - | 709 | 1 331 |
Notes
1 Actual harvest.
2 Expected harvest.
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