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ity of planted forests has been well recognized in New Zealand.
Forests established after 1990 form a key part of New Zealand’s
post-Kyoto policy, greatly reducing the country’s carbon liability.
Possibly of more importance to the wider New Zealand environment
is the impact of extreme weather events in areas still dominated by
pastoral systems on steep land. In these vulnerable areas, erosion can
be reduced or prevented by planting forests. The focus of research is
to understand and minimize erosion risks when the land is disturbed
during harvesting operations.
Planted forests in New Zealand have been considered by many to
be biological deserts. However, Scion has completed a large body of
research that shows the full extent to which planted forests support
biodiversity in terms of community structure and the conservation
of endangered or threatened species.
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Other research has shown
that catchments in planted forests can have similar levels of indig-
enous aquatic biodiversity to natural forests and that levels are much
greater than in nearby streams in pasture catchments.
Another study on the value of recreation benefits from planted
forests provides evidence of the ways in which forest management
practices can affect forest use by the community. For example,
mountain biking has become a major activity in some areas, using
tracks formed in forestry plantations.
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Research is enabling manag-
ers to plan future forest operations (harvesting and replanting) so
that their economic forest production decisions are not detrimental
to recreational values.
Criteria for sustainable forest management
To maintain its ability to compete in the international marketplace,
the forest sector needs to demonstrate responsible performance. The
use of criteria and indicators (C&I) provides a framework against
which this performance may be understood and assessed.
New Zealand is an active and vital partner in one of the world’s
most respected C&I frameworks, the Montreal Process.
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Scion part-
ners the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in this
Process, providing technical and scientific advice on
the development, use and measurement of sustainable
forest management indicators. This Process continues
to help shape forest policy in countries as diverse as
Russia, China, the USA and Argentina, among others.
Forests for the future
New Zealand, like many countries around the world, is
anticipating the effects of climate change over the next
century. Scion is leading a number of research initia-
tives that will ensure forests continue to provide for
existing needs in addition to new services.
While New Zealand’s plantation forests were initially
created to supply wood and fibre, there is growing
recognition of the other ecosystem services they
provide, such as carbon sequestration, erosion avoid-
ance, control of water yield and quality, biodiversity,
habitat or recreational activities. In addition, New
Zealand has a major opportunity to use plantation
forests as a renewable source of carbon-neutral energy,
biochemicals and new bioproducts, such as wood-plas-
tic composites.
How future forests will deliver these multiple func-
tions, what tree species will be able to support them and
how their usability can be tested in the New Zealand
context is the focus of emerging research programmes.
This research is beyond the present needs of the exist-
ing forestry sector but is supported strongly by central
Government agencies, which recognize that the full
benefits and services offered by forestry will only be
gained through science and technology, combined with
informed policy.
Maori have become important players in New Zealand forestry sector
Scion has been the key provider of forestry research in New Zealand
for over 60 years
Image: Scion
Image: Scion