I’m not going to repeat what he said. You need to read it for yourself but he makes three recommendations.
They are to remove the Overseas Investment Act exemptions allowing foreigners to buy farms for forestry, to limit the price of carbon credits and to pause and take a deep breath.
I’ll drink to all three.
There were other articles on trees in the same Farmers Weekly.
In a Pulpit column forestry guru Denis Hocking supported forestry but said he is not a fan of permanent boundary to boundary carbon sink forests. I certainly agree with him on that.
There was also an article by Colin Williscroft outlining how farm sales for forestry are concerning the store stock market with predictions of dire consequences if the practice continues.
Finally, on the subject you can read how the growth of trees is of major concern for the meat processing industry. It makes the point big farmers cannot offset their emissions by planting gullies but big carbon dioxide emitters like Air New Zealand can buy farms to plant in trees.
It adds it will have a real impact on the so-called wellbeing of regional NZ.
So what all that tells me is we have a major problem that needs to be fixed and now.
In military terms it’s a SNAFU.
My simple view is the tree-planting of entire farms, as is happening, is not going to help any part of provincial NZ but will be a massive millstone around its neck.
It is also of major concern for those of us in the provinces.
Federated Farmers vice-president Andrew Hoggard said one of the key issues for members at Fieldays is the wholesale sale of productive farmland into forestry.
So farmers are concerned en masse, store stock farmers are worried as is our meat processing industry.
So what’s the Government’s answer?
Amazingly, in my view the Government is washing its hands of the entire problem.
Lands Minister Eugenie Sage told us forestry encroachment into higher-value farmland is an issue for councils to manage.
How, she didn’t say but added the national environmental standard for plantation forestry doesn’t set out to encourage forestry on good farmland.
She said forestry should be in steeper and more erosion-prone areas.
It actually gets better with Sage telling the Primary Production Select Committee the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) is trying to get a good handle on what is happening.
That tells me they haven’t a clue but Sage did acknowledge the OIO does not consider potential for job losses or rural depopulation.
One could respectfully ask why not?
So far eight farms have been approved for sale to foreign buyers to blanket plant in forestry with another 19 waiting approval.
Add the local buyers and you have a crisis and the minister’s reaction is to leave it to the councils.
What are the councils meant to do?
I’ve read the National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry. It has two objectives: to maintain or improve the environmental outcomes associated with plantation forestry activities nationally and to increase certainty and efficiency in the management of plantation forestry activities.
The only time councils are mentioned is about freshwater management, which is a joke.
Then on May 1 last year Forestry Minister Shane Jones released some new standards covering eight activities –afforestation, pruning, thinning to waste, earthworks, river crossings, forest quarrying, harvesting, mechanical land preparation and replanting.
Nowhere do you read about the effect on rural communities, the provinces in general or NZ’s economic benefit.
Yet Sage tells us that it is a problem for councils to fix. It isn’t
It is fair and square a problem for central government. The Government created the problem from nothing. It is the Government that needs to fix it.
The Government can quickly stop the gravy train for foreigners to buy farms for trees and limit the subsidy for tree planting.
I would have thought that was a quick and easy fix.
Sage has also admitted the OIO doesn’t consider the potential for job losses or rural depopulation when considering purchases of farms for forestry.
Why not?
The Government is entirely capable of fixing the Overseas Investment Act in short order.
It is ridiculous when all the OIO office has to consider is the planting of trees and not the raping of the provinces.
So, the issue is that we have a crisis in provincial NZ, it is purely and simply a Government problem and the Government needs to fix it and now.
