NEW ZEALAND'S PLANTED PRODUCTION FORESTS
Location
The biggest concentration of New Zealand plantations is in the central North Island on the volcanic plateau and the Bay of Plenty. Other major growing areas include Northland, Hawke's Bay, East Cape, Nelson/Marlborough, and Otago/Southland.
Most of the trees are within a few large forests but there are also many small holdings.
The total planted forest resource now exceeds 1.3 million hectares. The resource is broken down into Age Classes.
Ownership of New Zealand's plantation forest is largely in the Ownership hands of private companies.
The New Zealand Government now owns less than 20 per cent of plantation forests through its stake in the Forestry Corporation of New Zealand and forests planted on Maori leasehold land. Smaller private owners make up nearly 22 per cent of total planted forest ownership.
Forestry as a land use
Forests have not always been planted solely for commercial reasons. Over the years governments have adopted various policies for establishing forests including developing unproductive land, providing regional employment, and ensuring continuity of wood supply.
The location of planted production forests is determined by a number of economic and environmental factors, land availability and growing conditions, terrain, proximity to export ports, domestic markets, wood processing facilities and other infrastructure such as road and rail. Any forest development must also meet the regional planning requirements of local authorities such as the need to balance this land use with others such as tourism and conservation.
Planting trees is a form of investment and new forests are being developed by forestry companies, individuals or by joint business arrangements (termed joint ventures), mostly on private farmland. It is estimated that New Zealand has a further three to five million hectares of land suitable for new forest planting.
Main plantation species
Ninety percent of New Zealand's plantation forests are planted in radiata pine (Pinus radiata). The remaining 10 per cent is made up of four other main species:
- Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is about 5 per cent of plantation planting. It is used as a structural and framing timber and its strength and attractive grain make it popular for exposed beams.
- Macrocarpa (Cupressus macrocarpa) is increasing in popularity as a special purpose species. It is used for exterior joinery, boat building and decorative panelling.
- Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and black walnut (Juglans nigra) produce high quality wood suitable for furniture, cabinet work and wood turning.
- Eucalypt species are also grown for a wide variety of uses, including furniture manufacture, cabinet work and wood turning. Eucalypts can also be used for panelling, building and heavy construction, pulp wood and firewood.
Native to California, radiata pine is now the most important plantation species in the southern hemisphere. The other main commercial radiata pine forests are in Chile, Australia, South Africa and Spain. Major advantages are that the species is hardy, fast growing, and adapts to a variety of soil types, altitudes and climatic conditions. In New Zealand radiata pine outgrows almost all other tree species on nearly every site, from Northland to Southland. It produces 20 to 25 cubic metres of wood per hectare each year and is ready to harvest in 25 to 30 years.
Radiata pine timber is extremely versatile. The light coloured even textured wood is easy to dry, machine and treat with preservative. It has good nailing, gluing and painting properties and is suitable for furniture, joinery, mouldings, construction, packaging, posts, poles, pulp and paper. It can also be sliced or peeled for veneers and plywoods, and put to such uses as boat building, laminated beams, pallets, and railway sleepers. There are only a few specialised uses for which it is considered unsuitable.
Economies of Plantation Forestry
Projected costs and returns for a radiata pine forestry plantation forestry investment will vary depending on a number of factors such as
transport distance from a forest to the market, logging method, management regime, and topography. Log prices are particularly difficult to predict over a long period such as 25 or more years. Nevertheless returns on investment have consistently maintained their value in real terms over recent years.
| Year | Action Range | |
| Costs | $/hectare/year | |
| 0 | Purchase of Land | 700 - 1200 |
| 1 | Site Preparation/Planting | 300 - 450 |
| 5,7,9 | Silviculture (Pruning/Thinning) | 400-450 |
| 0-29 | Management/Overheads | 40 - 100 |
| Revenue | ||
| Net Log Revenue | 25,000-40,000 | |
| (less extraction costs) | ||
| Net Revenue After 29 Years | 20,000 - 35,000 | |
| Annual Internal Rate of Return | 7 - 10% | |
| (before tax and excluding inflation) | ||
Source Ministry of Forestry 1992
| © MoF 1993 | ||
| About the site | Last updated: 28-Nov-2002 | Important Disclaimer |
Contact for Enquiries
Policy Analyst - Forestry
Innovation and Research
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0741
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