The industry-good organisation has supported the recent formation of the Native Forest Coalition which comprises the Environmental Defence Society, Pure Advantage, the Rod Donald Trust, the Tindall Foundation, Project Crimson, Dame Anne Salmond and Dr Adam Forbes.
The rise of carbon farming has become a contentious and topical issue, particularly where it involved the conversion of productive sheep and beef properties.
The Native Forest Coalition recently released its policy statement and recommendations on native forests, highlighting the urgent need to ‘‘halt the rapid proliferation of pine plantations’’ driven by high carbon prices and short-term policy settings.
Fish & Game New Zealand has also publicly supported the coalition’s position, saying current policy favouring carbon sequestering in exotic pine plantations over native forests, driven by high carbon prices, was having ‘‘a myriad of adverse impacts’’.
‘‘A very real concern is the effect of pines on in-stream flows. Research has established rainwater run-off is diminished by up to 40% by pine plantations,’’ spokesman Ray Grubb said.
‘‘Widespread plantings in catchments will be in direct conflict with the Government’s current objectives to improve freshwater.
‘‘Further, mass sedimentation events when exotic forests are felled have catastrophic impacts on in-stream biology and water quality.’’
Plantation forestry had a place in helping meet New Zealand’s climate change commitments but the proliferation of monoculture pine plantings in recent years had clearly been ‘‘out of control’’ and ‘‘ill-considered’’, Mr Grubb said.
B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said it was getting harder for the Government to do nothing about the issues the coalition raised.
‘‘There are so many voices calling for action,’’ he said.
‘‘We need urgent solutions now — before too much more damage is done to rural communities and so that we don’t miss real opportunities to protect and enhance New Zealand’s biodiversity.’’
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Actually, Beef + Lamb NZ are wrong. The alleged growing chorus speaking against uncheaked carbon farming can be ignored. Very easily. All of the named parties in this piece have a vested interest in reducing carbon farming and all of them are very small minorities. The overwhelming majority of NZers are fully supportive of increased tree planting of any description.
Mr Grubb’s contention that research shows that planting of pine forests can reduce catchment run off by up to 40% is a prime piece of misinformation. He presents this as a bad thing when in reality the unrestricted clear felling of NZ’s native bush by our colonial farmers was a far greater environmental crime for the country than any amount of replanting, be it native or exotic trees, can ever hope to recover. The loss of catchment run off that keeps him awake at night is actually repairing our damaged ecosystems. This has been proven by the recent programme of riparian planting that dairy farmers were forced to participate in.
Reducing catchment run off is a good thing. Don’t let anyone try to tell you any different.