Catchment meetings held during May 2022 highlighted community concerns about the impacts of forestry practices on freshwater health, although recognising water quality in the catchment is good overall. With the major productive land use in the catchment being exotic plantation, and sediment load and debris a significant problem, the Collective’s Forestry Working Group (FWG) was set up for forestry companies and the community to work together to share knowledge and build a common understanding of potential solutions. One of the possibilities was to pilot a long-term, industry collaborative approach to improving forestry practices that mitigate external costs and gain catchment community support.

The inaugural meeting of the Forestry Working Group took place in Tapawera in May 2022. The group included a diverse mix of people such as scientists, representatives from five forestry companies, small forestry block owners, community members and wider stakeholders. The meeting, facilitated by Peter Lawless, was a productive one which reflected hope of being able to work together.

The community and stakeholders identified a number of concerns, including:

• The loss of community when farms are converted to forestry
• Protecting and improving our river.
• The practice of clear felling especially in large tracts.
• Forestry impacts when on highly erodible land, particularly sediment loss into waterways and the bay, particularly during heavy rain and floods
• The lack of set backs to waterways
• The way and amount of slash being left on the hill post harvest.
• Pest weeds, wilding pines and pest animals coming out of forestry

Forestry companies/owners identified concerns including:

• The community misunderstanding of corporate forestry and slash practises which have improved considerably in recent times.
• A lot of good environmental work is being done but not acknowledged – for example see Tasman Pine Forests | NZ Landcare Trust case study
• The perception that forestry is all about the money
• That a lot of good regulation is already in place that community is not aware of, including set back requirements.
• Granite sands are highly erodible and in big events every land use suffers. Slip risk is a combination of soil type, topography and rainfall.
• Forestry puts big effort into controlling OMB, but in some areas the issue is too big to tackle.
• Remaining financially viable if major changes to practices are required, such as shifting to alternative or mixed species.

At that stage a number of next steps were outlined for the FWG to progress. These included looking into:

• Making better use of waste biomass
• Conducting trials on alternative species, creating high value wood markets, and developing a wood processing industry that can handle different tree species
• Measuring sediment to better track sources
• Enhancing biodiversity in forestry
• Tackling Old Mans Beard (OMB).
• Educating and informing the public via different channels
• Retiring steep slopes not suitable for forestry

Since this meeting, the FWG have generally met every 6 – 8 weeks. There are currently 32 members of the group. Because of the diverse mix of participants, much of the discussions have centred around finding solutions and actions that achieve a common ground between all parties, and sharing practice improvements.

The goals of the group include:

• Awareness raising and education about forestry management – current practices, regulations, constraints, improvements, and impacts.
• Building common ground to find solutions to challenges in the forestry sector impacting catchment health
• Working together to build better data around sediment sources

If you have any questions, or would be interested in joining this group, please email fwg@motuekacatchment.org.nz.