Beef + Lamb New Zealand policy and advocacy manager Dave Harrison said the organisation is concerned about the impact on rural communities of plantation forests, which do not require services or create jobs while growing, blanketing hill country.
The organisation has not had enough information to calculate livestock numbers displaced by trees but Harrison said previous experience showed large-scale forestry reduces demand for services and businesses in rural communities.
“The last thing we want to see would be large areas of hill country locked away under trees.
“It needs to be targeted and encouraged on areas prone to erosion or sedimentation.”
Harrison said assurances have been sought from the Ministry for Primary Industries that planting will be incentivised to areas less suitable for livestock and will not adversely impact on the rural landscape.
“It is something B+LNZ is concerned about.”
The Government’s 10-year plan, part of the coalition agreement between Labour and NZ First requires 100,000,000 trees to be planted each year which officials say will require 5000ha of replanting and another 5000ha of new planting.
The Government has set aside $6.5 million to fund afforestation grants of $1300 a hectare for areas of new planting between five and 300ha.
Forestry Minister Shane Jones said the reaction of farmers to the programme has been mixed because, he thought, of uncertainty over the carbon price and issues with carbon farming.
Climate Change Minister James Shaw is overseeing changes to the rules around carbon farming and the emissions trading scheme criteria.
While he could not compel farmers to change land use to forestry, Jones said NZ has to address its carbon emissions and offsetting them through forestry is one solution.
He did not think switching land use from livestock to forestry will mean a dramatic decline in livestock numbers.
“We are in the business of using forestry to better enable the state to cope with climate change obligations and the departed Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (Dr Jan Wright) did advise that the best transition manoeuvre the Government could take was to expand the forest estate.”
Jones said some the planted area will be logged areas that have been left to regenerate naturally and he is aware of land in Northland that meets that criteria.
Landcorp has committed to plant 2000ha over two years and Jones said iwi-owned land could also be planted, though ownership issues will need to be resolve first.
The North Island’s East Coast has received funding from the $1 billion Provincial Growth Fund and Jones said part of that will be used to assess a wharf at Hicks Bay to transport logs from new planting north of Ruatoria.
Gisborne-Wairoa Federated Farmers provincial president Charlie Reynolds said the Government appears to be eyeing his region for significant forest planting and he has major reservations about the area been turned into “a giant carbon sink”.
But he was even more concerned at the impact of a major increase in the area of forestry on a region already struggling with substandard infrastructure.
“I personally say we don’t want trees unless they give us the money first.
“If they pay for the port (extensions) roading (upgrade) and get everything up to speed and future-proof it, then we would consider it.”
Reynolds said some existing woodlots are not being harvested because of the lack of infrastructure and health and safety concerns preventing harvesting steep hillsides.
Kawerau is an example of a rural community gutted by the boom and bust cycle of forestry.
Unlike livestock or produce, when the log or timber price falls the harvesting and processing stops, which leads to job losses, he said.
