'Wall of wood' nothing to fear

By CHRIS DANIELS forestry writer

Delegates to the year's biggest forestry event have been told they must stop looking to others for solutions and start co-operating to survive.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Jon Mayson told the the Forest Industries conference in Rotorua that the challenge of the approaching surge in the wood harvest was nothing to be feared.

He objected to the oft-heard tag "wall of wood" to describe the looming jump in wood production.

"I feel this phrase has a negative connotation," he said.

"It sounds more like a warning of impending doom, when we are actually talking about the harvesting of a tremendous resource and of increased export potential."

Instead of the different forestry players questioning the financing for the much-needed infrastructure, all needed to get together and start doing it.

"We will fix it," he said. "We need to share information and we need to make commitments to each other.

"Forestry companies just can't say, 'We've paid our rates, now where are our roads?'."

Mayson said he could appreciate the reluctance of the big forest owners who just sold their trees while still on the land.

"Why should they consider committing to export infrastructure?" he asked.

"Their part is over and they're sticking to their knitting - growing more logs."

But without a longer view from the forestry industry, and without a commitment to the entire business cycle of forestry exporting, some large tracts of forest could remain unlogged.

"We're in this together whether we like it or not," Mayson said.

Some forestry investors had questioned why the much-needed investment in infrastructure did not come from port companies.

The profits made by port companies had been generated from solid investment and long-term thinking, Mayson said.

"There are certainly not the margins in some areas of our business to undertake the kind of investment we're talking about to deal with the wood crop."

Many millions were needed to expand port facilities to cope with the wood expected to come their way, and this investment would go elsewhere unless the expansion was supported by a commitment from all sectors of the industry.

Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton told the conference that forestry would pave the way for new investment in New Zealand, new jobs and renewed hope for struggling regions.

"When this Government first started to work with the wood industry, leading overseas companies would tell me 'we love New Zealand but ... '. They are now starting to say 'we love New Zealand and ... '," Anderton said.

"I'm confident we will see new investment in the developing areas of New Zealand forestry.

"This investment will bring jobs and renewed hope to some of our most difficult regions."