Forestry skills training call

A shortage of skilled forestry workers has prompted Industry New Zealand to call for a new training facility, operating in Auckland and Rotorua.

In response, Education Minister Trevor Mallard says a joint University of Auckland and Waiariki Institute of Technology training venture, with support from the forestry industry, is being considered.

If the Industry New Zealand board gives the go-ahead, the joint venture will offer more comprehensive forestry training. "It would be a bigger training facility than is currently there and it would be slightly upmarket - a place where there would be more experimentation and applied research."

Mallard says that a forestry training facility is crucial if New Zealand is to make the most of its timber, which will be abundant in the future.

Skill New Zealand and the Industry Training Organisation are to recruit an educator to promote forest careers to secondary schools.

- NZPA