A recent episode of Country Calendar ran a revamped advertisement sponsored by NZ Wood, emphasising how time is running out on runaway global warming.
It reiterated how fast-growing trees are the most effective way to fight climate change by sucking carbon from the atmosphere.
The advertisement had been pulled by the group after a complaint was laid against the initial version that claimed fast growing trees were the only effective way to fight climate change.
But the Advertising Standards Authority did not uphold the complaint laid by F Hore in late September.
Hore said the advertisement was misleading because it suggested there was only one solution to stop global warming, by selling farms and planting as forests.
It raised issues of advocacy advertising, truthful presentation and environmental claims.
But foresters said the statement should be kept in the context of forestry being the only effective means of carbon capture and was qualified by stating “at this time”. And it specified “fast growing trees”.
The authority found as advocacy advertising the advert was not misleading.
Forest Owners Association president Peter Weir said foresters decided to pull the advertisement while the appeal was in process and had only now put it back on air.
The one tweak was the removal of “only” in the phrase fast growing trees were the only effective way and replacing it with “most” effective way.
“Of course, there are other options there (to reduce global warming) such as doing away with hydrocarbons or removing all cattle but trees are the realistic, viable method,” Weir said.
Foresters are taking a wait-and-see approach on further campaigning using the advertisement and other communications.
The association has also ramped up its push-back against groups claiming forests are eclipsing pastoral farming.
But Weir acknowledged association members are all over the place on how best to confront claims about wholesale afforestation.
“The large United States and NZ Super fund forest owners, for example, are not expanding their operations. Much of the sale of forest land is between foresters, it’s a bit of a forest-go-round.
“Then you have the likes of Roger Dickie at the other end, actually doing more planting and being named and slammed for it.
“But all foresters are concerned over their licence to operate. Forestry is actually employing more people in these areas than pastoral farming.”
Groups like 50 Shades of Green have been particularly active on social and mainstream media raising concerns over recent farm property sales to forest companies.
Forestry NZ head Julie Collins said 19 approvals were made in the year to the end of August under the special forestry investment test. Of those eight involved farmland totalling 14,000ha, of which 8000ha went into trees, the rest being subdivided to remain in pasture.
Weir said that was only the equivalent of a typical high country sheep and beef farm and far from the vast swathes such groups have claimed.
“We have tried to take the high ground on this but we are also a broad church with a variety of people calling for more push-back, some for less.”
But Weir acknowledged the pressure being put on available land for forestry.
“Resource management law means we cannot plant in water-short areas including Canterbury and Otago while red zones of erodible country are only there for carbon planting. Tolaga Bay has also made this complicated and pushed people onto better hill country land.”
That is why the perceived conflict is being seen particularly in the lower North Island.
“But if you are a farmer who has been farming for 30 years and you are offered an extra few thousand a hectare from a forestry company, you are going to want to take it.”
The portion of land bought for foreign-owned forestry is a fraction of the value of the dairy sector where sales of Mataura Valley, NZ New Milk and Westland were all foreign and four times greater than the total for forestry but lacked the same media excitement.
A lack of foreign investment in NZ forestry will leave the sector bereft, given overseas investors’ preparedness to wait a number of years for their investment to mature.
