WOODCHIPPING - THE FACTS

Forest and Bird, Volume 20, Issue 4, 1 November 1989, Page 22

WOODCHIPPING - THE FACTS

New Zealand Forest Cleared: 50 football fields of native beech, kamahi and rata a week, or 1250 hectares a year. Where: On private land in Nelson, West Coast and Marlborough; Southland, South East Otago. By Whom: In Nelson and Marlborough, Newmans, 100 percent owners of Nelson Pine Forests Ltd; in Southland Wood Export Tokanui Ltd owned by M. K. Hunt Foundation and C. Itoh Ltd. Destination: Japan. Japanese Companies Involved: C. Itoh Ltd and the Marubeni Corporation. Both are among the greatest destroyers of tropical rainforests. End Use: Paper. Mill Employment: 100. Export Value: Year ended December 1988, $14.8 million. Effect on Birdlife: 1350 birds killed for every chip shipment. Birds Most Threatened: Kaka, parakeet, robin, pigeon, rifleman, yellowhead.

The kaka, threatened by large scale forest clearance. Effects of beech management in Rowallan Forest on the parakeet. Hatched areas represent birds seen; plain areas represent birds heard. (From Beech Management — its effects on bird populations, by Eric Spurr).

PASADENA World Rainforest Facts Rate of Destruction: 40 ha a minute. Leading Rainforest Destroyer: Japan, which imports almost 50 percent of the world’s tropical rainforests. Where From: 96 percent of Japan’s tropical imports are from Sarawak, Sabah and Papua New Guinea. Thailand: Native forest cover 28 percent of original. Banned logging completely earlier this year. Possible loss of up to 1 million jobs. Philippines: Native forest cover 21 percent of original. Banned the export of all timber in March 1989. Indonesia: Restrictions on exports of timber. New Zealand: Native Forest cover 23 percent. No ban on exports.

"We are looking at 16 year’s milling at the end of which there could be total destruction of all remnant forests . ae for pockets." (Judge Treadwell, Waimea (Nelson) Planning decision 1988).