A report on alternative plantation forest species is now available on the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association website.
It details the characteristics of a wide variety of tree species suited to steep, erosion-prone land which have root structures that may better resist landsliding after harvest.
The report was written by Dean Satchell, of Sustainable Forest Solutions. Farm Forestry Association president Neil Cullen said land and forest managers were lacking information for steep, erosion-prone terrain.
"This report identifies the considerable amount of research still required, but does go a long way to providing guidance on the options for land owners preparing resource consent applications to plant or replant land now zoned Red under the new National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF)," Mr Cullen said.
Owners of Red-zoned land who wished to clear-fell needed to provide regional councils with evidence that significant adverse environmental effects could be minimised, and should consider replanting erosion-mitigating forest cover.