New Zealand's plantation forest estate has shrunk for a second year in a row according to a report that also reveals that a third of forests being clear felled are not being replanted.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's forest description report shows a small decrease in the plantation forest area in the year to April 2006. This is the second consecutive year in its 23 year history that the report records a decrease in forest area.
Approximately 12,900ha of forest clear felled in the year to 31 March 2006 will not be replanted . This represents a third of the total area harvested.
Most of the "deforestation" is occurring in the Central North Island, the region where huge plantation forests have sold in recent years in billion-dollar deals, and in Canterbury.
The National Exotic Forest Description (NEFD) database report said planted production forests cover an estimated 1.80 million hectares - 70 per cent of which are in the North Island.
MAF principal adviser Paul Lane said the trend of not replanting after harvesting was continuing and in some cases the land was being converted to pasture.
The data is likely to reinforce the forestry lobby's anger that the government has "stolen" Kyoto credits. Forest owners have also argued that forests planted before 1990 are being harvested early because owners are worried they will be hit with a liability under the Kyoto regime.
Some in the industry question whether the Central North Island, where large scale sustainably managed plantation forestry was pioneered in this country, will continue to be a major forestry region. But some of the specialist US-based timber investment funds that have bought forests in the region have said that it will.
"New Zealand has always had dynamic landscape, so changes in land use are not unusual," said Mr Lane.
However, he said that up until 2004 it was unusual for plantation forests to be cleared.
The NEFD report is produced in partnership with the New Zealand Forest Owners' Association and the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association.
Radiata pine is still dominant species, making up 89 per cent of the planted forest area, with Douglas-fir the next most common species, making up 6 per cent. The balance comprises other softwood and hardwood species.Stuff
