Helicopters have started salvaging some of the native timber blown over by Cyclone Ita on the West Coast of New Zealand in April. Source: 3News
The storm destroyed thousands of hectares of forest, and over the summer hundreds of valuable rimu logs are being recovered from bush land near Lake Brunner to be made into flooring and furniture.
Each log is worth about NZ$5000, but once milled and processed they can be worth eight times that.
“It’s strictly taking very small percentages of the highest-value timber out,” said Jon Dronfield of New Zealand Sustainable Forest Products.
“The economics of helicopter logging are pretty high. It’s an expensive business but it works for a high-value timber like this.”
While the logs have been expertly cut to size, there were no chainsaws involved in their felling; Cyclone Ita flattened them in April as it blew over hundreds of thousands of trees, potentially five million tonnes of native timber.
Instead of letting it slowly rot on the forest floor, the Government pushed through new legislation allowing a tiny proportion of it, just 2%, to be extracted over the next five years.
What’s left of the forest near Lake Brunner is the first to be picked over.
There are about 300 tonnes of wood to be removed from the site, which is about 215 individual logs, helicoptered out one by one.
But down the road, instead of lifting whole logs out, another operator is milling his logs right on the forest floor, producing long rimu planks.
“This timber will go into the local industry on the West Coast and into the domestic market, so the opportunity is there for finished wood products, furniture, flooring,” said Alan Tinnelly of the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Mr Dronfield’s logs are already on their way to being used in houses around the country.
The timber is being planed in Christchurch and shaped into high-grade rimu floorboards.
That’s good news for the local market, as New Zealand native timber has been in short supply since the Labour government outlawed its extraction in 2002, and what little bits there have been around have struggled against cheaper imported timber.
“People find it hard to get consistent grade and quality, but this will certainly put some volume back into the market,” said Mr Dronsfield.
Back in the forest there’s plenty to go around. Mr Dronfield estimates that only 1% of the fallen logs will end up being taken from the forest floor; the rest will be left to rot.
