February 23, 2023
Forest policy blocks slash fix
The chair of the Māori Forestry Association says the continued risk of forestry slash contributing to the damage done by extreme weather events could force the Government to rethink its position on planting permanent forests.
Te Kapunga Dewes says there are ways to mitigate slash, but they could make it uneconomic for Māori owners to use their land for forestry.
Another alternative is leaving the trees in the ground, but Māori owners have been fighting the Government about whether new exotic forests can generate carbon credits for the emissions trading scheme.
“It would be a permanent forest and permanently in forestry which would have soil, water, water quality, slash migration, all those sorts of benefits, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and yet that is the one thing the Government is not supporting us for yet the Government has actively supported production forestry activities, which I think we also need, but we need to do a better job,” Mr Dewes says.
He says there need to be wider conversations about land use change rather than looking for single-industry solutions.