It is leading a group of like-minded companies to combine wood flows to make an attractive offering to new and existing processors, chief executive David Cormack said.
Wenita, which has operated since 1990 under several ownership structures and whose shareholders are now institutional investment fund managers, manages 45,000ha of forest in Otago and Southland, owning 30,000ha.
Its forests are in three main areas — Berwick, Otago Coast and Mt Allan. It has 15 employees and more than 150 contractors along with many other affiliated suppliers and service agents.
The sustainable harvest level is about 500,000cu m per annum. Of that, 35% to 40% of the harvested volume is sold to domestic customers in Otago-Southland and the balance exported via Port Chalmers.
It is estimated Wenita contributes about $700,000 in expenditure per week to the local economy, while a 2023 New Zealand Institute of Economic Research report on forestry and wood processing in Otago-Southland shows a total industry contribution of $348 million per annum to regions’ economies.
That is equivalent to 33% of the sheep and beef sector, and 27% of the dairy sector. It earned the third-most export dollars per hectare behind horticulture and dairy and almost three times more than meat and wool.
In recent years, there has been much rhetoric about forestry — particularly pine trees — and the impact on communities from the conversion of sheep and beef farms.
Mr Cormack said he could understand the anxiety and why it was unsettling for communities. While the economics would say trees earned more per hectare than a sheep farm, it did change the look of the community in some areas.
But there was a mindset that it had to be one or the other — "farms or trees, you can’t have both" — and that was not correct.
"You can have both," he said.
He was also frustrated over misunderstandings around the likes of fire risk and pest management.
"Some people would have you believe the forest owners are quite happy for animal populations to breed up ... and wreak havoc on neighbouring properties."
There was no benefit for Wenita to have bad relationships with its neighbours. It was a symbiotic relationship and the company relied on those neighbours to tell it about issues in the forests.
"We want to have good relationships with these neighbours," he said.
Wenita had a budget for pest control each year and it also encouraged recreational hunters and had a substantial waiting list for its permit system. The kills of both recreational and professional hunters were recorded.
Wenita attended a community meeting between forestry and farming interests in Lawrence last year and Mr Cormack was pleased to see progress being made around communication.
"If we don’t know about it, how can we fix it? It’s never going to be 100% but I think we’re in a much better space than we were," he said.
Wenita liked being part of the local community and its forests were widely used for all types of recreation. More than 3500 access permits were issued in 2025 and access was also granted for various community events and fundraising initiatives.
