Last May, Science and Innovation Minister, Steven Joyce announced the Government would spend $5m on the project over seven years. Industry group Future Forests Research is leading the project in collaboration with Scion, the University of Canterbury, and the NZ Dryland Forests Initiative.
Forestry is NZ’s third largest export earner behind dairy and meat, and contributes about $5 billion in exports each year as well as employing about 20,000 people.
Russell Dale, research and development manager at the Forest Owners Association said the project’s vision was that NZ would substantially increase its forests and develop the industry away from radiata pine to species that could provide greater value.
Managed exotic plantation forests cover 1.75m hectares of NZ, about 7% of the country’s land area. Radiata pine makes up 90% of that area, with Douglas fir covering 6%.
Diversifying away from radiata makes sense from both an export value perspective and a safety perspective, Goodhew said, with the reliance on one type of pine leaving the industry vulnerable to disease.
Dale said 142,000ha of eucalypts, Douglas fir and cypress trees have already been planted around NZ, and the sector’s mission was to build new value chains and stimulate regional development by creating high-value export products.
International markets have strong demand for high-value structural and appearance products with indoor and outdoor furniture, interior joinery, paneling and flooring and structural timber all offering great opportunity, Dale said.
NZ also has an opportunity when it comes to providing sustainably managed alternatives to international high-value timbers like teak, rosewood and kwila, which are increasingly rare.
