Natural forests in New Zealand include:
• Largely unaltered natural forest in lowland and upland
areas.
• Natural forest that has the general character and
appearance of the original but has been modified by
human activity.
• Native forest which is being managed for commercial
wood production.
Before the first Maori settlers arrived about 1000 years ago, 75% of New Zealand’s 27 million hectares were covered in natural forest. The rest of the land was unsuitable for forest growth, being too wet, too high or too dry. By the time European settlement got fully underway in the 1840s, the forest cover had fallen to 53%.
Today, 23% of New Zealand remains under natural forest. Most of this forest decline occurred between 1880 and 1930 when New Zealand’s agricultural-based economy was being developed and before the Government began to take measures to protect the forests.
There some 6.2 million hectares of natural forests today of which 1 million hectares are privately owned, about half of which is under Maori freehold title. The forest area can be broken down like this:
| Natural Forest Breakdown |
|
(000 ha) |
Percentage
of Total
Forest Area |
|
|
| Public Natural Forest |
|
|
| National and conservation parks |
4755 |
77 |
|
|
| State forest allocated for management for timber production |
150 |
2 |
|
|
| Total Public Forest |
4905 |
79 |
|
|
| Private Natural Forest |
|
|
| Protection Forest |
654 |
10 |
|
|
| Potentially available for wood production |
124 |
2 |
|
|
| Total Private Forest |
1323 |
21 |
|
|
| Total Forest Area |
6228 |
100 |
|
|
| Source: MAF |
The early forest clearance took place in the more accessible lowland areas which were suitable for farming. Only 15% of the rich lowland natural forests remain. In the North Island, 80% of the original natural forests have been removed.
The pattern of land clearance has also meant that the natural forests on private land often occur on more fertile and productive sites than is generally found in the Crown-owned natural forests, and therefore produce more timber.
The natural forests of the South Island have not been removed to the same extent. Beech forests have survived well, mainly because their timber was less desirable and the land that they occupied was not so good for farming. However, by the mid 1980s concern had risen over the destruction of natural forests, especially on the West Coast where some of the largest areas remained. This led to the West Coast Forest Accord, providing for the setting up of a large network of reserves while also providing for the ongoing supply of natural timbers through management of beech and rimu stands, aimed at minimal damage to forest structure and biodiversity.
Over the whole country, 66% of the entire natural forest has been removed and the habitats of many plants and animals have been disturbed. The introduction of browsing animals and exotic plant species has affected the ecology of the natural forests and has led to the extinction or near extinction of many of New Zealand’s native birds.
Natural forests also play an important part in mitigating the ‘greenhouse’ effect. Carbon is one of the basic building blocks of all living organisms. In natural forests the carbon cycle is roughly in balance, that is, the amount of carbon dioxide taken up by plants during photosynthesis is equal to the amount released during decay. However, because of the greater mass of living material in a forest, it has greater capacity to ‘lock up’ carbon in living tissue than other ecosystems such as pasture. Regenerating natural forests, like exotic plantations, creates ‘carbon sinks’ by absorbing more carbon dioxide through photosynthesis than is release through decay.
Harvesting From Natural Forests
Less than 1% of New Zealand’s total timber harvest comes from natural forests – and this is how it is used.
Timber
Native timber is harvested from Maori land in western Southland and from other privately owned land. As far as possible, the timber produced from sawlogs is used in the high quality furniture and finishing market and species such as rimu are regarded as the premier species in the New Zealand market.
Veneer and Plywood
Logs of good shape and quality are peeled or sliced to produce decorative veneers and plywood used for furniture and decorative panelling. These are also widely used in the New Zealand market and have premier status.
Pulping
Native hardwoods were initially used for added-value processing until alternative eucalyptus supplies became available. For example, the tawa forest on the Mamaku Plateau provided the short fibre pulp needed in the production of high quality papers at the Kinleith pulp and paper mill. This practice stopped in 1991 and the natural logs are no longer pulped.
Chipping
Natural logs were removed as export chip logs, mostly from land being cleared for agriculture. In addition export chips came from logs felled for sawmilling. The use of natural logs for chipping is now also not practiced.
Many of the remaining forests are not suitable for timber production because the land is steep and difficult to access. Natural forests suitable for production are sometimes managed on a sustained yield basis, however, before harvesting can begin, a sustained yield management plan must be prepared and approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Selective logging
Government policy states that extraction of native forests must be 20% less than the forests can grow each year. This means that these forests are being logged selectively and only certain trees are removed. These trees are often over mature. In order to preserve native timber, the Government has introduced these measures:
1. There are no price controls.
2. Timber of any species from a forest managed on an
approved sustained yield plan or permit can be sold
on the open market.
3. Export of indigenous timber is restricted to; sawn beech
species or rimu from a plan or permit managed forest,
any finished or manufactured indigenous timber product,
regardless of the source of the timber used in the
product, (there are also a number of minor exportable
categories; including personal effects, stumps or roots,
tree fern trunks and fibre).
4. Timber salvaged from old buildings, and from standing
dead trees and windthrown logs in non-permitted forests,
etc., is subject to the application and issue of a ‘Source
and Classification Certificate’ which provides for the
milling of the timber prescribed. Such timber is not
subject to price controls, can be sold on the open
market, but can not be exported. Salvaged timber could
be manufactured into a finished product in which case
no export restriction would apply, as per 3 above.