1. Introduction
New Zealand's indigenous forests cover an estimated 24 percent of its land surface, half that present prior to the European colonisation of New Zealand and one third that estimated to have been present before the arrival of Polynesians. Of the 6.4 million hectares (ha) of indigenous forest, approximately 1 million ha is privately owned and potentially available for management (A further 300 000 ha of private land, principally indigenous forest, have been either purchased or covenanted in recent years under the Nature Heritage Fund, Nga Whenua Rahui, QEII National Trust and Vote Conservation). Private indigenous forest land includes land held in fee simple, General Maori land and 1906 South Island Landless Natives Act (SILNA) land.
Indigenous timber contributed in a major way to the early development of New Zealand and up to the mid 1950s was the mainstay of the New Zealand timber industry. Exotic softwood timber progressively replaced indigenous timber in the building industry and as the most accessible indigenous forest resources diminished, public pressure mounted for the cessation of indigenous timber harvesting from Crown owned forests, especially in the North Island. By 1987, when the NZ Forest Service was disestablished, the logging of Crown owned indigenous forests was confined to forests in Westland and Southland.
By 1991, when the then government announced its intention to introduce legislation providing for the sustainable management of private indigenous forests managed for timber production, the annual production of indigenous roundwood had declined to an estimated 360 000 m3, of which half consisted of chip logs and wood chips for export. By the time the Forests Amendment Act (Part IIIA, Forests Act 1949) was passed in 1993, indigenous roundwood production had declined further, partly as a result of a government ban on log and chip exports, to 200 000 m3 per annum. Of this, one third consisted of the export of wood chips from forests on SILNA lands (SILNA forests being exempt from the provisions of Part IIIA of the Forests Act). Export of indigenous wood chips from SILNA land in Southland has been limited since 1996, principally due to a downturn in international demand.
This paper discusses trends in indigenous timber production and value from all sources, projects timber production from sustainable management of private indigenous forests, and its potential future value.
Contact for Enquiries
MAF Information Services
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526
Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Fax: +64 4 894 0721
Contact this person
