April 29, 2021
Forest HQ sitting good for Te Arawa
A Te Arawa leader says the shift of the new Te Uru Rākau New Zealand Forest Service headquarters in Rotorua will be a great boost for the centre of Māori forestry.
Te Taru White says having the ministry next to the crown forest research institute Scion makes a lot of sense.
He says Forestry Minister Stuart Nash’s focus is on doing more to add value in New Zealand rather than export raw logs hit the right note.
Māori increasingly own the trees, rather than just leasing out their land.
"It puts us in a position of better control, better determination and better able to establish partnerships that return real value to our people. I'm on a number of forest groups and trusts in Rotorua and I know that's our intent. We're not going to be taken away by just being given the sawdust again and minor shares in the stumpage, we want to create value and add employment out of all of this," Mr White says.
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