Tairāwhiti is aiming to tackle its pine problems by taking up to 100,000 hectares of forestry and pastoral land out of production and planting it with permanent bush.
The challenge it is faced with now is how to do that and who will pay the hundreds of millions of dollars it will cost.
It comes as the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment calls for forestry credits for fossil fuel emissions to be phased out.
Over 20% of Tairāwhiti is covered in pine trees, many were planted after Cyclone Bola in 1988 to help with erosion control as the region has the most slip-prone land in New Zealand.
But as it’s matured and been harvested, the slash has caused major problems by washing into rivers, communities and beaches.
It was so bad in 2023 after Cyclones Gabrielle and Hale that a ministerial inquiry into land use was launched. It found lives were put at risk and said the time to fix this “environmental disaster” is running out. It recommended planting the worst areas back into native bush.
In response, a Transition Advisory Group (TAG) was established, which includes forestry owners, Māori landowners, people with farming interests and experts from the Gisborne District Council and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
This week, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, called for a radical shake-up of the Emissions Trading Scheme, proposing the phasing out of forestry carbon credits for fossil fuel emissions.
Driving into the Waimata Valley near Gisborne, the view out the window changes from farmland dotted with sheep and cattle into endless pine trees stretching out to the horizon.
After nearly an hour of bumping and winding our way along dusty forestry tracks, we arrive at a “skid site” where Aratu Forests is busy harvesting mature trees.
It’s a confronting sight, the landscape looks apocalyptic - cleared of trees, there are just smaller branches and dead bits of wood scattered around.
A large machine is dragging logs up the bank and stripping bark off before slicing the trees up and stacking them on a logging truck.
Aratu’s harvesting manager, Andre van Haandel, looks over the site and explains that not all of the trees we’re looking at will be replanted.
“We’re going to reduce the number of trees in the steep areas ... particularly around waterways we’re going to step back around 50 to 100 metres,” he said.
Aratu Forests Ltd owns 35,000 hectares of pine forests across Tai Rāwhiti and Northern Hawke’s Bay - most of it was acquired from Hikurangi Forest Farms in 2019.
Chief executive Neil Woods said they also ended up with the previous owners’ issues, such as poor harvesting techniques leading to slash washing down stream and trees being planted in the wrong areas.
These are issues many in the sector are facing.
“We recognise and have for some time that not all trees have been put in the right place,” he said.
‘This could potentially be irreversible’
Pine forestry harvesting in Waimata Valley near Gisborne. Photo / RNZ, Alexa Cook
Slash has been causing huge problems for years, with mountains of the woody debris going into waterways, communities and beaches.
It’s resulted in the creation of a Transition Advisory Group (TAG), which is proposing to transition 60,000 to 100,000 hectares of Tairāwhiti’s forestry and pastoral land into permanent vegetative cover.
Sam Rowland from the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre is part of the group and said there was an urgent need for action.
“We have five to 10 years before this could potentially be irreversible; our topsoils are gone,” she said.
“It’s pretty devastating when you live in a region where the outdoors is what you do.”
TAG is using local expertise and knowledge to develop guidelines to support a wide range of transition opportunities across all land uses.
A harvesting site in the Waimata Valley near Gisborne. Photo / RNZ, Alexa Cook
It’s working on a series of options and transition guidelines for specific sites.
The four different scenarios are pastoral land use transition in the presence of stock, pastoral land use transition involving stock exclusion, forestry land use transition involving harvest, and forestry land use transition without harvesting.
Rowland was hopeful they would get landowners on board, as she said it was imperative they acted quickly.
“We’re not only looking at pace here ... as we need to do this fast. But we’re also looking at scale,” she said.
“It’s complex, but I am always hopeful that we can do it - we’ve got some really smart minds working on it.”
She said everything was at stake to get this right.
“The future of our region, the economic prosperity of our region, our children and our children’s children’s future in this region, we’re already seeing people moving out.”
‘We need help’: GDC to present business case to government
Slash in a Tologa Bay river bed after Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Photo / RNZ, Alexa Cook
Land use change on this scale is expensive, with the plan estimated to cost about $200 million to get the land back into bush, although some fear the real cost will be closer to a billion dollars.
Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann is calling on the Government to help, as it was the one to encourage the region to plant all this pine 35 years ago.
“This region inherited that problem ... for whatever reason the forefathers made those decisions at that point in time, but now we need to come to grips that this is a region[al] issue to solve but also a national one.
“We need help ... we have stepped up as well and willing to contribute what we can as a small region,” Thatcher Swann urged.
“We know there is more that can be done, and we’re asking Government to support us on this next stage.”
She said central government must step in with further support, and the council would be presenting a business case later in the year.
“It is a huge problem that we can’t solve alone. It is of the utmost importance that the Government does get in and support us.
“We know that we’re going to have more adverse weather events. We have seen what happens when woody debris isn’t controlled,” she said.
Aratu Forests Ltd chief executive Neil Woods said changes to the ETS are needed if forest owners are to transition out of pine. Photo / RNZ, Alexa Cook
Aratu’s Neil Woods told RNZ the TAG group’s goal was an ambitious one, but he was up for it.
“It’s a long journey, this one,” he said.
“And there’s no silver bullet, and there’s no recipe.
“So at the scale we’re talking, it’s going to need a lot of collaboration and frankly pace of decision making.
“It’s a generational land use change that really needs to be thought out carefully so we don’t end up with what’s happened in the past.”
However, he worries that changing land use is a legal minefield because of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
“If we deforest now and don’t establish a crop that meets the ETS requirements within four years, we’re liable for a currently around $50,000 hectare charge for deforestation tax,” Woods said.
This week, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton called for the ETS to be overhauled as part of a number of recommendations.
The scheme was created in 2008 and is the Government’s main tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Slash carpets the beach at Tolaga Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Photo / RNZ, Alexa Cook
It’s seen swathes of rural land converted into carbon forests, which Upton said has resulted in “significant environmental, economic and social risks”.
His report stated that it’s time to phase out of using forestry to offset fossil emissions.
“Successive governments have yielded to [ETS] participants’ pressure rather than address those risks. But that hasn’t made the risks go away,” Upton said.
“At some point, the risks will become so evident that the Government will need to manage them.”
Woods wants the Government to help forest owners transition their more marginal areas into permanent bush.
“There needs to be some mechanism and policy change that allows Land Overlay 3B areas ... that the Government takes the carbon liability risk on to their balance sheet or if it’s going into native bush, they take it on their balance sheet for a period of time, for example, to at least de-risk that change in practice.”
Forestry Minister Todd McClay told RNZ he was aware of the group’s plan to transition up to 100,000 hectares of pine and pastoral land into permanent bush.
“There are a range of issues that would need to be worked through as part of any land use change decisions in the Tairāwhiti area,” he said.
