Control of private forests

Press, 24 January 1986, Page 2

Control of private forests

PA Wellington A new Commission for the Environment paper targets privately owned native forests for controls to protect dwindling indigenous forests. The discussion paper, ordered by the previous Minister for the Environment, Dr Shearer, sets out to provoke debate on future native forest policies and aims its information at the new Department of Conservation, which will begin its work in April.

“Decisions need to be taken by the new department regarding indigenous forests on Crownadministered land and the question of private forests will require increasing attention,” says the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Ken Piddington, in a foreword.

The paper, “Indigenous Forests of New Zealand, Environmental Issues and

Options,” says New Zealand is the only country In the Western world with no control over forests on private land.

It identifies forest clearing on private land as a principal contributor to recent reductions in over-all native forest area.

Case studies in Northland and Rodney showed 7.5 per cent and 10.7 per cent reductions in native forest area between 1979 and 1983. The studies found that pastoral farming expansion and clearance of private land for exotic forestry development accounted for most of the forest loss.

Mr Piddington said yesterday that the Government’s “farm package” decision late last year to remove tax incentives for clearing land for agriculture increased the longterm opportunity to protect native forests.

But, he said, the phase-

out of incentives created a short-term problem as landowners cleared forests faster to take advantage of the last of the incentives.

Among options for private native forests put forward by the paper is tagging of existing tax incentives for land development with the condition that no indigenous forest be cleared.

The commission says that forests should be defined as both mature and regenerating areas. The Rating Act could be changed to exempt or postpone rating of indigenous forest areas, the paper suggests, with compensation to local authorities by Government grant. Native tree felling on private land should be according to a management plan approved by the Department of Conservation, applying “sustained yield management" principles.

Broader areas for reform listed options which included changes to legislation to protect certain types of land (including native forests) from mineral and energy prospecting and to protect habitats of wildlife already protected.

The paper says there is no common management policy for publicly owned native forests and recommends a revised indigenous forest policy be adopted by all Government departments.

Local authorities should be encouraged by legislative changes to protect native forests.

Looking at timber production and pricing, the paper says forest policies have not yet established a premium price for native timbers to reflect their special purpose or intrinsic worth compared to exotic timber, which can easily be substituted for some purposes.