forestry slash

Here's some good news, we've finally got some new rules around forestry slash that might actually make a difference to places like Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay, which have been absolutely pounded by logs in Cyclone Gabrielle.

The rules are kicking in very soon- just 4 weeks’ time. And they will require forestry owners to remove their slash if it’s over a certain size, and it’s not particularly large.

Anything with a diameter of more than 10 centimetres and a length of more than 2 meters has gotta go. It can't be left behind to wash down and smash up bridges and houses.

Removing it will be expensive though; there is no doubt about that.

It will be so expensive that it will make it too expensive to plant some of that steep land. Which is great, it’s what we want, because that land shouldn’t be planted in pine anyway.

I cry absolutely no tears for the forestry owners who are whingeing about this today, because they have not done their bit for their communities. 

You take a look at that photo of Waikare beach halfway between Napier and Wairoa which popped up a couple of days ago.

That beach is covered in logs. None of the forestry guys have cleaned it up, it’s been that way since February 14. The logs destroyed the DoC campsite, and none of the forestry guys have cleaned it up.

These guys have made huge bucks off New Zealand- and broken our stuff as they made their money.

Now, I'm not naïve. I know that these rules will probably create as many problems as they solve. But we needed to start somewhere.

And here’s another bonus, just the threat of these rules has already stopped the sale of land for forestry. How good is that? It’s shocked that industry so badly that the sales have come to a shuddering halt. 

Which is good, because fewer pines means less slash for us to clean up.

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We’ll start this morning with the Government’s inquiry into slash, and the damning recommendations that found that production forestry should be banned in extreme erosion zones around Wairoa and Gisborne. Limits should be introduced around how much of a forest can be felled in a single year. And when it's spelled out like that, why would you need an inquiry to tell you? It just makes common sense, doesn't it? Production forestry should be banned in extreme erosion zones.

Well, yeah.

And limits should be introduced around how much of a forest can be felled in a single year. Again, even those of us without any experience in forestry would say, well, yeah, that makes common sense.

The Government, of course, commissioned the inquiry into land use and forestry slash after Cyclone Gabriel, concentrating on the Wairoa and Tairāwhiti Gisborne regions.  As you'll remember —and those shocking, shocking photos showed— severe slips and erosion during the cyclone resulted in the woody debris and silt washing onto land and down waterways into those regions, causing significant damage.

But it wasn't the first rodeo for many of the people who own farms and land in the areas around the forest. They have been battered, quite literally, by slash for years and have been asking for something to be done about forestry in those areas for years. There is nothing new in this.

A second pre budget announcement yesterday as well saw 10.5 million earmarked for the clean-up of forestry slash and other woody debris in Tairāwhiti and Hawkes Bay. There's 70,000 tons of the stuff and rivers and catchment areas on the East Coast. Forestry Minister Peeni Henare says the clean-up effort needs to start straight away.

Well, really it needed to start three months ago. Hello Red Cross, anybody there? Anybody? That would have made a small dint in getting it cleaned up, but no? Nobody? Still going to hold on to that money?

So I would love to hear from people of the region, those involved in forestry as well, because so many areas around the country have been planted out in pine and as we can see, there is the possibility that where it's planted in the wrong place, it's going to cause huge problems.

Interestingly, this was supposed to be the solution to a problem. Because when Cyclone Bola swept through Gisborne causing so much damage, or swept through New Zealand but impacted the Tairāwhiti Gisborne area greatly. The erosion there caused huge amounts of problems where the land had been clear felled of Native forest for farming. And so the answer to that was, hey, let's put Pine Forest in there and that'll hold the hills together, and that'll keep the soil together and it will also provide employment for so many people in the area who would otherwise have to leave to look for work.

So this was supposed to be a solution to an obvious problem. It's turned out to be a bigger problem than ever.

Where does it leave the future of forestry in this country? Is there still a place for it?

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Federated Farmers says the slash inquiry report is brilliant.

The report recommends an immediate halt on large-scale clear-felling of plantation forests.

It also calls for a Woody Debris Taskforce to lead clean-ups, transitioning extreme erosion zones out of pasture, and turning production forestry into permanent forest.

Federated Farmers Gisborne President Toby Williams told Heather du Plessis Allan that he agrees with the report that forestry has lost its social licence in the region.

He says millions of dollars is being exported to offshore companies who own them, and it's about time they paid the piper.

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Concerns about what becomes of the inquiry into forestry slash in Gisborne following Stuart Nash's sacking as Forestry Minister.

The probe was launched after woody debris was blamed for making flood and cyclone damage worse.

Federated Farmers spokesperson Toby Williams says the enquiry is halfway through, with tomorrow the last day of public consultation.

He says a new panellist also started today.

"It's going to take time for the new panellist and new Forestry Minister to get up to speed with the issues, and we'd like to see it extended so we can make sure it's done properly."

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This week's edition of The Gardening Show talks about the ongoing damage caused by forestry slash.

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On today's edition of The Huddle, Chief Executive of Transporting NZ Nick Leggett and Mike Munroe, former Labour Chief of Staff and current director of Mike Munroe Communications joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day: 

How does it reflect on Chris Hipkins to be this misinformed about the proportion of taxes Labour takes out of the economy? Did he handle the miscommunication properly?

The Government is running an inquiry into forestry slash- is Forestry Minister Stuart Nash being strong enough on the issue?

It seems like construction on Auckland's Light Rail is finally beginning today- is this project worth it, or is it all a waste of money from Transport Minister Michael Wood? 

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