147 / 311
[
] 148
users (including forest owners) use natural and physical resources.
The Forests Act 1949 regulates the sustainable management of
indigenous forests, including limited commercial timber produc-
tion from indigenous forests on private lands. The Conservation
Act 1987 controls the Crown Conservation Estate, which includes
indigenous forests in Government control managed for conserva-
tion, habitat and species protection and other non-timber purposes.
These policies are complemented by a number of collaborative
forest industry and environmental group initiatives focused on
forestry environmental issues, which help to ensure that produc-
tion forestry is sustainable. These include the Forest Owners’ New
Zealand Environmental Code of Practice for Plantation Forestry
(revised 2007) and the New Zealand Forest Accord (1991), an
agreement between the forest industry and conservation groups on
limiting the clearance of indigenous forests and guiding where affor-
estation takes place. Collectively, Government policies and industry
provide an integrated approach to land management.
New Zealand forests in the wider landscape and across sectors
Forests fit into a wider New Zealand landscape characterized by:
• A high proportion of plant and animal species found nowhere
else on the planet
• Indigenous species-dominated remnants, on lands
used for agriculture and forestry production, where
introduced forest and pasture species are the basis of
New Zealand’s commercial farming and forestry systems
• A very active, geologically young landscape.
Sustainable use of land is a complex balancing act between
a range of stakeholders and working towards effective
solutions is vital. Despite the historical loss of much of
the original indigenous forest and many of the associated
fauna species, New Zealanders increasingly recognize
that they are the guardians of unique national indigenous
biodiversity. Conservation, especially that of the poorly
represented lowland forests, has been enabled through
both Government-led policies and private initiatives.
Significant areas of New Zealand’s hill country carry
unstable soils. Afforestation programmes and regen-
eration of indigenous forests aim to stabilize soils and
counter the effects of erosion and flooding. In other
cases, forested water catchments provide water supply
and on farmlands, trees provide shelter for stock and
landscape.
Rimutaka Range in Welllington, where indigenous forest provides important cover on geologically active steeplands
Image: Alan Reid