A Guide to Preparing Draft Sustainable Forest Management Plans, Sustainable Forest Management Permit Applications and Annual Logging Plans

Appendix 1: Sustainable forest management prescriptions

The Forests Act distinguishes between podocarps (rimu, matai and kauri) on one hand and beech forests on the other, in terms of the methods by which they may be managed. It also considers the management of shade-tolerant and exposure-sensitive broad-leaved hardwood species within these or other broad forest types.

The sustainable forest management prescriptions contained in the Second Schedule to the Forests Act recognise the specific growth habits of major species groups. At the same time the prescriptions seek to avoid forest degradation (for example, through harvesting damaged or windthrown trees) and create conditions conducive to regeneration of the timber species removed.

The following management prescriptions must be incorporated into all SFM Plans and SFM Permits, and management practices must follow these prescriptions.

The principal prescription is that the rate of harvest from a forest, or a group of forests managed as a unit, shall be limited to a level at which the forest can continue to supply an annual or periodic non-diminishing yield in perpetuity. That yield shall include the harvest of windthrown or dead trees as they become available.

The other prescriptions are that:

  1. An area that is representative of the forest area and does not exceed 20 percent of the total forest area may be set aside and be unavailable for logging.
  2. Podocarp and kauri species shall be harvested only by single tree or small group harvesting, using low-impact harvesting techniques. Harvesting shall, as far as possible, be restricted to selectively removing trees predisposed to windthrow or early death. Throughout the term of the SFM Plan or SFM Permit the character and structure of all parts of the forest shall be maintained.
  3. Shade-tolerant and exposure-sensitive broad-leaved hardwood species shall be harvested only by single tree or small group harvesting using low-impact techniques. In creating gaps, the natural regeneration characteristics of the species targeted for harvesting shall be considered.
  4. The Second Schedule recognises the ecological requirements of beech forest by allowing harvesting not only as single tree or in small groups, but also in coupes (small clear cuts), which do not exceed 0.5 hectares. Single tree or small group harvesting of beech may be preferable in a mixed podocarpbeech forest and may be suited to shade-tolerant silver beech forest. Currently, beech management is most commonly undertaken through group and small coupe harvesting (for example, 0.05-0.2 hectares).
  5. Where any podocarp, kauri, or shade-tolerant and exposure-sensitive broad-leaved hardwood species is harvested and there is not enough advance growth, there shall be planted for each tree removed at least five nursery-raised seedlings of the same species at least 60 centimetres in height. These seedlings shall, where practicable, be raised from seed collected from the district in which they are to be planted. This is because the genetic and visual characteristics of many species can vary from place to place, and it is desirable to retain the particular geographical characteristics of flora and fauna.
  6. Where there is a failure of regeneration in a light-demanding hardwood forest, the failure shall be corrected by planting nursery-raised seedlings. Preference will be given to using seedlings of the same species that shall, where practicable, be raised from seed collected from the district in which the seedlings are to be planted.
  7. Before harvesting any beech forest coupe within a distance from a harvested coupe equal to the width of the harvested coupe, regeneration on the harvested coupe must have reached a predominant mean height of four metres (being the average height of the tallest defect-free tree in a sample of a 10-metre by 10-metre (0.01 hectare) plot). The coupe must also have reached a stocking of the harvested species equal to or greater than the forest before harvesting.

Contact for Enquiries

Sustainable Programmes
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

14 Sir William Pickering Drive
PO Box 20 280
Bishopdale
Christchurch 8053
NEW ZEALAND

Tel: 64 3 943 3700
Fax: 64 3 943 3701

Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park
99 Sala Street
PO Box 1340
Rotorua 3040
NEW ZEALAND

Tel: 64 7 921 3400
Fax: 64 7 921 3402

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