Land use inquiry not addressing wider issuesFriday 19 May 2023
Grant Dodson says he is working through the Inquiry’s recommendations, identifying the practical against the less than practical. The FOA will release that fine-tuned assessment in due course. “Unfortunately, the report has suffered from the short reporting time frame the Inquiry was given to get to potential solutions for the more difficult land use problems.” “It reiterates some good ideas for changing harvest practices which have already been proposed or implemented. But it’s has failed to address what the whole region has to do about massive climate changes. There’s a risk of it being a “spray and walk away” report, with the grander gestures leading to unintended consequences because they are not grounded in an objective analysis.” “For instance, the proposed restriction on harvesting area, might result in compulsorily isolated patches of old trees which get knocked down with the wind and finish up in the river causing more of a problem than when there was no restriction,” Grant Dodson says. “The most important point about the report though is that the Inquiry recognised this is a unique region and very few of the recommendations are applicable to the rest of New Zealand.” “The report acknowledges the community’s anguish, but while talking about the complicated reality of landscape and climate, and farms and forests, it fails to address solutions in that complexity. There will be significant transitional consequences and impacts on the region’s economy and people – which the report dwells on, but doesn’t seem to fully appreciate.” “It does not acknowledge that the local forest industry has already accepted where its responsibilities lie, and is cleaning up and changing – companies are playing and paying their part. The suggested Woody Debris Task Force of foresters and councils is a good idea. But, given the range of wood Gabrielle dumped into the rivers and what the future looks like, the Task Force should include participation by DoC and farmers as well.” “All those in the region who live on the land, use it, or regulate it, need to address the growing issue of vast volumes of sediment and whole trees being swept into rivers in increasingly violent storms. Examination of woody debris after Gabrielle found only four percent of the wood deposited downstream in Hawke’s Bay came from harvesting pines. “Most of the trees in places like Wairoa came from riparian plantings of willows and poplars, or native trees. The report ignored this.” More >> A response to the inquiry from the New Zealand Institute of Forestry can also be read here. They're deeply disappointed with the inquiry with it being focussed on forest wastes, rather than the much wider land use issues. And the Forest Industry Contractors Association expressed their concern at the lack of clarity with contractors across the region already facing an uncertain future. They currently don’t have the luxury of time for any prolonged timeline for change. Read the FICA media release. Source: Forest Owners Association, NZIF, FICA  | ||
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