New Zealand politician Jo Goodhew welcomed the Maori Forestry Forum – the first of its kind held and spoke at the event. Source: Scoop
Forests are a significant land use of Māori land. With more than $2 billion in forest assets, whānau, hapū and iwi already stand out as key players in the forestry sector she said. That influence can only grow in the coming years.
“This important and timely forum is a great opportunity to share ideas and aspirations for Māori forestry now and in the future.
“Today, Māori stand out as major players in the forestry sector, as land owners, investors, and employees. Māori owned land under plantation forestry currently stands at some 520,000 hectares, representing around 30% of the total planted exotic forests.
“When all Treaty settlements are finalised in the next 10 years, this could increase to 785,000 hectares or close to half of the current forest estate.”
She said the Government has been playing its part in driving innovation activity through the flagship Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) projects.
An example was the Steepland Forest Harvesting project led by Future Forests Research Ltd. Running over seven years, the project aims to unlock the potential of the standing crop on the hillsides of New Zealand, and to improve the safety of workers operating in these areas.
One of the aims of this project was to create remote-controlled machines that can work on the harvesting slope, and to develop high-speed cable extraction systems.
The Government and industry have agreed to fund up to $6.5 million, with the program expected to produce estimated total net benefits of over $100 million by 2025.
The Government has also just approved funding to study the feasibility and economics of making liquid biofuel from forest harvest and milling waste
that currently has no economic value.
The Government and industry has agreed to fund $6.75 million each over a period of 14 months to complete this feasibility study.
As our third largest exporter, forestry provides $4.3 billion in annual export revenue. Making up 3% of GDP, the sector directly provides 18,000 jobs, particularly in rural and provincial areas.
She said the Government’s Business Growth Agenda has a special focus on export markets. This Government has a goal of lifting the value of exports from 30% to 40% of GDP by 2025.
This translates to a doubling of the value of primary sector exports by 2025.
“As our third largest primary sector export earner, forestry has a significant role to play in helping achieve it,” she said.
Wood availability in New Zealand is increasing, with the annual harvest having just passed 27 million cubic metres a year. Over the next 10 years this figure is forecast to rise to 35 million.
Greater use of engineered timber products here and elsewhere, is a practical way to draw more value from wood products she said.
There could also be opportunities to develop and export high-value, pre-fabricated buildings or the technology to the Asia-Pacific region and the Government is prepared to look at new ways to help promote greater use of these emerging and innovative technologies.
