Gisborne forestry companies have halted harvesting as complex consent conditions make it difficult to operate or convert land use, industry leaders say.
After severe weather events, including Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, Gisborne District Council introduced stricter consent rules to reduce the risk ofwoody debris reaching beaches and waterways.
The forestry industry raised concerns that the conditions were unworkable, prompting an independent council review and Forestry Minister Todd McClay appointing a facilitator to assist with land use and consent discussions.
Forestry Management NZ general manager harvesting Matt Doyle said they supported the moves.
“The industry accepts that environmental risk is real, particularly in Gisborne, and we support proportionate regulation, but our concerns are that the current conditions that are coming through and the draft conditions are quite often conflicting or unachievable in the natural environment.”
Industry wanted to work with all parties to find a workable solution because “it’s not us versus them. It’s a Gisborne region thing”, he said.
During harvest, crews cleared waterways of debris caused by soil, tree size and harvest activity.
Without harvest,“that large amount of material just stays choked in the waterways and ultimately is waiting for the next event”.
Some were not happy with what they heard as Forestry Minister Peeni Henare spoke in Gisborne. (Source: 1News)
Doyle said clean-up conditions for slopes varied.
“Some conditions allow a sensible and manageable volume of woody debris in high-risk zones, which is workable, while others don’t allow any material or any size, which is not achievable.”
The conflicting conditions had caused significant delays in consent grants, he said.
One consent was granted after 14 months of negotiation.
“Part of the delay is that Forestry Management have been negotiating over conditions that simply won’t work. There have been multiple meetings to discuss the conditions that are unachievable, but Gisborne District Council have not been able to change them.
“Much of the delays in consent approvals have been either dealing with unnecessary back-and-forth queries or an inability to gain workable conditions.”
Doyle said these consents needed to be in place up to a year and a half before ground-based harvest and engineering crews could begin work.
With current delays, Forestry Management was sending crews to Wairoa, where Doyle said Hawke’s Bay Regional Council took a more pragmatic, on-site approach to resolving issues.
“They’ll just lock the gate and walk away."
Moving crews elsewhere would buy the industry limited time before skilled workers left the region, taking families and economic activity with them, and trees in problematic sites would continue growing, he said.
“There are areas that shouldn’t have been planted, but they are, and the only way to correct those is to harvest them now, so then you can enable conversion.”
Eastland Wood Council chair Julian Kohn said the industry supported better environmental outcomes and had spent five years redesigning harvesting practices, skid sites, debris placement and culverts.
However, the consenting process was preventing the transition of erosion-prone forest under the council’s transition programme, he said.
“The industry has a significant set of skills and resources to help make that happen, but if we’re not able to do that because we can’t function as a business, we can’t continue to operate in this region.”
Contractors were leaving Gisborne, while some companies were buying farmland elsewhere to establish forests or shifting plantations to carbon forestry, he said.
“They’ll just lock the gate and walk away. That means those stands are not being managed appropriately during an environmental event.”
Mana Taiao Tairawhiti also wants a moratorium on clear felling practices. (Source: 1News)
Kohn said harvesting consent costs in Gisborne had roughly doubled since Cyclone Gabrielle, ranging from $19,000 to $30,000, compared with about $7000 in Hawke’s Bay and $1200 to $3000 in Bay of Plenty.
Doyle said carbon forestry was being considered by some companies because returns were higher than harvesting. However, he was concerned it did not address erosion and waterway impacts.
Kohn said local and central government had a role in implementing the Emissions Trading Scheme carbon forests would trade under, and there was a shared willingness to make it work better across the region.
GDC chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swan said eight harvest consents were granted from January 2025 to January 2026.
Conditions before Cyclone Gabrielle addressed erosion, skid site placements and debris removal, she said.
“The current conditions place greater emphasis on identifying and managing risks before harvesting begins, particularly on highly erosion-prone land and at sites where slash could be mobilised and affect waterways, downstream properties or infrastructure.”
Conditions may require staged harvesting, inspections following rain events, higher-quality roads and post-harvest stability plans, she said.
Operators would make little or no return on harvests due to the cost of running heavy machinery. (Source: 1News)
The number of companies choosing not to harvest in Gisborne was unavailable, but Thatcher Swan reiterated poorly maintained forests could pose a risk for communities, waterways and infrastructure.
The council did not want to prevent harvesting but wanted to work with operators so environmental risks were managed, she said.
Speaking for sole shareholder of Eastland Port, Trust Tairāwhiti, chief executive Doug Jones said the trust was aware of challenging market conditions and the impact on local businesses and the economy.
The trust and its investment arm, Tairāwhiti Investments Limited, remained informed and focused on the longevity of investments, he said.
Eastland Port chief executive Andrew Gaddum said its debarking operation was monitoring harvesting volumes, export markets and wider economic conditions, and would adapt to changing customer demand.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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