Neil Volzke: We need to act now when it comes to right tree, right place thinking

Slash is problematic in all regions where the forestry industry has any sizeable footprint and Taranaki is one of those, says Stratford District Mayor Neil Volzke. Photo / Supplied

OPINION

Over the past two weeks, the news has been dominated by images of the flood-stricken East Coast areas of the North Island. The sheer magnitude of the devastation is mind-blowing and the grief caused to people living and working in those areas is incalculable. Our thoughts are with them and I was delighted to see such a generous response from the people of Taranaki who have donated cash, equipment and manpower to assist the victims of the flooding. Our ongoing support is vital for the recovery of the region.

As the floodwaters recede and the true extent of the damage becomes more apparent, the inevitable first of the inquiries into the event has been announced by the Prime Minister. This will focus on the issues relating to forestry slash and how it contributed to the devastation during the cyclone. This inquiry is well overdue and it could have, in fact should have, been called many years ago.

Slash is not a new problem and it is not restricted to just the Hawke’s Bay/Tairawhiti regions, it is problematic in all regions where the forestry industry has any sizeable footprint. Taranaki is one of those.

In an interview last week, Forestry Owners Association president Grant Dodson admitted forestry slash was a contributing factor to the flooding, but was also quick to point the finger at Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and its riverside plantings of willows as being a significant contributor. He also took a swipe at land use in the region and claimed foresters were also victims of the cyclone because their plantings had been destroyed in some areas. For me, it was hard to listen to and even harder to empathise with his comments, as I visualised the piles and piles of slash stacked up against bridges and homes, along with the carpet-like appearance of the slash in the low-lying valleys of the region.

I don’t see much point in playing the blame game here, nothing positive will come from that. What is important, is that the inquiry team can identify clear, significant factors that contributed to and amplified the flooding; notwithstanding the fact that Cyclone Gabrielle was one hell of a cyclone. Once contributing factors have been clearly established, the next questions are how can those things be mitigated, what are the preventive solutions and, in the case of forestry, what is best practice to deal with slash.

This conversation will most likely include further debate around general land use versus forestry use; the buzzwords are “right tree, right place”. This debate has been going on for some time now, but the Cyclone Gabrielle floods tell us this debate needs to end and decisions and supporting actions need to happen, now.

The idea of planting permanent forests with native species on steep, erosion-prone land and planting exotic pine forests in other strategic land areas seems to be a no-brainer. And when determining what is a suitable area for exotic forests, it would be remiss of me not to point out that access roads should be a key determinant. By including the costs of road maintenance into the equation, we would end up with far better decisions on where future exotic forests could be planted.

I think most people in the forestry, central and local government sectors already agree with the “right tree, right place” thinking, the only trouble is that is not what has been happening. Maybe a positive outcome that will fall out of the Cyclone Gabrielle inquiry is a speeding up of the rule changes necessary to implement a “right tree, right place” policy — it is desperately needed.

– Neil Volzke is Stratford district mayor