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The key provider of research on sustainable forest management in
New Zealand is the New Zealand Forest Research Institute (known
as Scion). Scion is a Crown-owned institute with the core purpose
of driving innovation and growth from New Zealand’s forestry,
wood products and wood-derived materials. The intent is to create
economic value and contribute to beneficial environmental and
social outcomes for New Zealand.
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Scion was founded in 1947 as part of the New Zealand Forest
Service. Since then it has played an important role in facilitat-
ing interactions between research, policy and management at a
number of levels. Scion works with a wide range of stakeholders
to develop research programmes, often in partnership with the
Ministry of Science and Innovation, which is charged with driving
the Government’s investment in science in New Zealand.
Working closely with industry partners and Government
departments, Scion undertakes direct research programmes at
the request of non-government, Government and forest industry
entities. Maori organizations increasingly include science, inno-
vation and technology in their tribal strategies, to improve social,
economic and environmental outcomes from their land. Science
is also being applied to support an emerging interest in indig-
enous forestry using native species with commercial potential,
through combining traditional knowledge with modern forest
management tools.
Partnerships and alliances support management through
shared goals
Scion has formed a number of partnerships to oversee research and
development programmes. A key partnership is with Future Forest
Research (FFR), which represents more than 80 per cent of the
commercial forestry sector by land area and other key stakehold-
ers, including the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry, regional councils, universities and Maori
tribes or ‘iwi’. FFR is New Zealand’s key pathway for
forest-growing research implementation.
There have been many lasting collaborations with
local and international researchers, facilitated by scien-
tific awards, travel grants and collaborative research
programmes. One current example, supported by the New
Zealand Government and the European Community, is
the TRANZFOR programme, which promotes knowl-
edge exchange in the general domain of forests and
climate change between Australia, New Zealand and the
European Union. This initiative supports staff exchanges
in a range of core areas, including environmental services
from forests.
Supporting forest benefits
There is increasing public recognition of the many
benefits from planted (and natural) forests beyond the
timber they provide.
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To date there have been relatively
few examples in New Zealand of policy that explicitly
rewards landowners for providing these benefits, but
more cases are beginning to occur.
The perceived value from planting forests is
evidenced by the pattern of afforestation of erosion-
prone steepland areas that had previously been
cleared for farming. Such forests are often planted
to reduce both on-site erosion and off-site sedi-
ment loss. More recently, this activity has been
encouraged through direct Government incentives
and indirectly through implementation of a carbon
emissions trading scheme (ETS). The ETS provides
forest growers with a source of revenue from carbon
sequestration and is likely to provide an incentive
for afforestation. The carbon sequestration capac-
Mountain biking is a popular activity in New Zealand plantation forests
Image: Scion