DEAN ROWALLAN LONGWOOD

Forest and Bird, Volume 19, Issue 1, 1 February 1988, Page 19

DEAN ROWALLAN LONGWOOD

By

Gerry McSweeney,

... Southland World Heritage Forests in Danger...

Conservation Director

hree magnificent lowland beech and rimu forests cover rolling hills on both sides of the Waiau River valley east of Fiordland National Park. Together with the adjoining 45,000 hectare Waitutu State Forest these publicly-owned lowland forests complement the mountains of Fiordland National Park. Dean and Rowallan are both part of the proposed South-West New Zealand World Heritage Site, and at present Rowallan forest is being ransacked by the Forestry Corporation at taxpayers’ expense. When the Fiordland boundary was drawn in 1904, Dean, Rowallan and Longwood forests were excluded from protection because they contained merchantable timber. Today, although their conservation values are finally being recognised, Rowallan is being devastated by woodchipping and Dean and Longwood are threatened with sale to the Forestry Corporation for logging. The Government will determine the future of these forests by March 31 this year and Environment Associate Minister Philip Woollaston has promised that if they are zoned for protection the forests will be included in a World Heritage nomination for South-West New Zealand.

Lowland Wilderness Vital for Wildlife

The forests are important for two reasons: they protect the ecological integrity of Fiordland by preserving a sequence of forests from lowlands to mountains, and they are crucial to the future of seriously threatened native birds such as kaka, parakeet and yellowhead. They are a national stronghold for these spectacular birds. ‘All the remaining virgin forest including old cutover with a regenerated canopy must be excluded from timber production areas,’ was the strong message from the Conservation Department to the Government in recent land allocation negotiations. Conservation Department staff, and before them the Wildlife Service, have carried out bird surveys throughout the forests. Nationally important populations of kaka and parakeet were found. These parrots need extensive areas of unmodified forests — particularly beech forest — for feeding and breeding.

In addition the surveys show that yellowhead are common in parts, especially in the valley floor beech forests. Such forests have largely been cleared elsewhere in New Zea-

land. Confined to the South Island, yellowhead have suffered a major contraction in their distribution since the 1950s, and are mostly found in the native, lowland forested valleys around the Landsborough Valley (South Westland) and east of the Main Divide in Otago and Southland. The Forest Research Institute has carried out a wildlife survey of cutover parts of Rowallan forest, which shows that logging eliminates yellowhead, kaka and parakeet from the forest and that even after 25 years the birds do not return. This is because the mature and old trees which are rich in insect food and also offer nest holes for breeding have been logged out. The insanity of one section of government spending millions to save some endangered species for extinction, while another pushes other threatened species to the brink of extinction, is nowhere better highlighted than in these Western Southland forests. So far DoC’s plea for protection has not been successful. Much of Dean, Rowallan and Longwood remains zoned for logging. However, conservationists have recently succeeded in retaining the forests in interim Crown control with the Department of Lands, after they were initially scheduled in early 1987 for sale to the Forestry Corporation.

Corporation Push for Logging

The Forestry Corporation are pushing hard for ownership of the forests. To back its case it has recently organised a PR tour of Rowallan for Southland local authorities. The Southland United Council has asked for logging to continue, and the Aucklandbased company Wood Export Tokanui Ltd (also part Japanese-financed) which runs the huge Awarua woodchip mill near Invercargill is also lobbying hard for continued chipping in Rowallan. The Awarua mill is described by Southland Forest and Bird secretary Audrey Gamble as a "blight on the province’. From Rowallan in the west to the Catlins in the east, the mill is stripping forest off publicly and privately-owned land. Rowallan State Forest now has the dubious distinction of being the scene of the largest native forest logging operation in New Zealand. There is a long term sale of 8000 cubic metres of beech and rimu sawlogs to the Lindsay and Dixon (now Paynters) sawmill in Tuatapere. This expires on July 31 this year. Arising from this logging is around 40,000 cubic metres of woodchip which goes to the Awarua mill. Conserva-

tionists have also only recently discovered that the Forest Service in its dying days in October 1986 pushed through a further woodchip sale of 30,000 cubic metres per annum from Rowallan. This also expires on July 31 this year.

Fifteen Times the Sustained Yield

This sale was contrary to the provisions of the ministerially approved 1981 Southland Regional Management Plan. Total timber sales from Rowallan are therefore about 78,000 cubic metres per year — 90 percent as woodchips sent direct to Japan. This is 15 times the sustained yield calculated for all the Western Southland beech forests. If the logging was switched immediately onto a sustained yield basis, employment in managing and processing would total about 15 jobs. Should logging be halted immediately these 15 jobs would be lost, but there need be little social impact as a massive volume of pine is coming on stream from

1990 onwards. If an advanced cutting strategy is adopted, many additional jobs will be created. Already Tuatapere’s Lindsay and Dixon mill has chosen to substitute exotic pine for part of its beech entitlement.

Heavily Taxpayer Subsidised

Ironically logging in Rowallan is a big loser — about $250,000 annually according to a 1986 Native Forests Action Council study. This does not include the costs of the loss of a virgin forest and its wildlife. Hoping for better economic results, the Forestry Corporation conducted another economic analysis. Their staff admit their study showed Rowallan logging to be ‘‘economically unattractive."’ Southland Forestry Corporation manager Dennys Guild said in a Southland Times interview that: ‘‘the operation has not made a profit for the Forest Service.’’ He admitted that even under a more efficient corporation it ‘would never be a money spinner." (20/3/87).

Straightforward Solution

The issues in Southland are therefore straightforward. On the one hand we can either allow a huge, predominantly woodchipping operation to continue in World Heritage quality rainforests, thereby endangering a national stronghold of kaka, parakeet and the yellowhead. The operation squanders taxpayer money and provides only a handful of jobs in the long term. The alternative is for the Government to move quickly to protect the forests and their wildlife. Dean and Rowallan forests would become part of a South-West World Heritage Area. They would form a natural gateway to southern Fiordland and offer opportunities for lowland forest walks and drives. Any job losses could be prevented by adopting an advanced cutting strategy for Southland’s exotic forests. Alternative high quality beech timber will remain available for furniture from the sustained yield forests in Westland, agreed for sale to the Forestry Corporation under the 1986 West Coast Accord. ¥

What You Can Do

Now Is the time to influence the future of Dean, Rowallan and Longwood. The Government is due to make decisions on them by March 31 this year. The Government must get the clear message from New Zealanders that woodchipping our heritage is not on. They will respond to widespread public concern. Please write immediately to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Conservation, the Minister of State Owned Enterprises and the Minister of Finance, C/- Parliament Buildings, Wellington, and let them know your view. Please also send copies of your letters and replies to Forest and Bird, PO Box 631, Wellington so we can also lobby on your behalf. If you need any more information, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Petrocorp shows the way

In October last year oil explorer Petrocorp decided to shift its proposed oil drilling from virgin beech forest in Western Southland on to adjoining farmland. Protests from Forest and Bird persuaded Petrocorp to make the shift, after they had earlier decided to clear a 1.8 km long road through virgin forest in Rowallan, then clear a further 3 hectares of forest to set up the oil rig. Instead, they are now drilling on an angle underneath the forest from farmland adjacent. The cost of changing their rig position would have run to several hundred thousand dollars. It is too much to hope that the Forestry Corporation will show a similar sensitivity over the beech forests of Western Southland?