18th October 2021 Newsletter
PRESIDENTS COLUMN
I am sorry but todays column is short due to a family bereavement over the weekend. However there are a few things members need to be aware of:
We will be calling a SGM during Nov / Dec to decide if NZIF is, in principle, open to becoming the delegated authority of the Forest advisors part of the log trader and Forest advisors bill; which will come into effect Aug 2022. Members will be able to attend via zoom so please keep an eye out for the invite and relevant documentation.
- I expect MoJ to approve the code of ethics members approved at the 2020 AGM during the next fortnight; at which point the new code comes into effect. We will notify all members once the approval is through and send a copy of the revised code for all members to read. We will also organise some workshops on the code over the next few months.
- I am still looking for members for the diversity working party. Also for ideas around how we can improve our representation of diverse groups.
- The next council meeting is Nov 8th (though maybe pushed to 11th). If any members have issues they wish for council to discuss please let me or Raewyn know at least two weeks before the meeting (ie this week).
Once again our thoughts are with those members in lockdown. I encourage you all to do your bit for them and for our under 12’s and get vaccinated.
Have a safe week
Thanks
James
James Treadwell (FNZIF, MInstD)
Registered Forester
MEMBERS VOICE
Greetings
I would be interested in your thoughts on the the FENZ 2021/22 Fire Prevention Campaign drivers. An introduction to the campaign is available at the following link:
Read more
The primary drivers for the FENZ 2021/22 Fire Prevention Campaign include the following;
1. Climate change modelling predicts that New Zealand will become hotter and drier in some areas, creating conditions that increase the frequency and severity of wildfire events.
2. Fire seasons are also expected to become longer in many areas of the country – starting earlier in spring and extending longer into autumn.
3. Examples that this may already be happening are the recent major wildfires in Deep Stream near Middlemarch in November 2019, and at Pukaki Downs in August 2020, and Lake Ōhau in October 2020, both in the Mackenzie Basin near Twizel.
4. More frequent and severe fire danger conditions for New Zealand could lead to the occurrence of a greater number or larger, more extreme wildfires, and to increased risks to people, property and the environment.
For the first two points above, the 2020 published Impact of Recent Climate on Fire Danger Levels Report clearly shows that these two statements are not supported when considering the trends from the last 60-year history of fire weather data from 15 weather sites. The Report, data and graphs from this research can be view at the following links.
Read more
The FENZ statement may well be related to the October 2020 Ministry for the Environment (MfE) Report fire risk prediction. This prediction, however, is based on 20 years of historical data. The analysis used in this MfE report is also flawed. The report has used either the daily Forest Fire Danger Class or the daily Grassland Fire Danger Class for each site but not both. Using only one Fire Danger Class for each site is like comparing apples with oranges between sites. The Recent Climate on Fire Danger Levels Report analyses the yearly trends in the Fire Weather Build Up Index, Drought Code, and Initial Spread Index, and not Fire Danger Classes.
The 3rd point relating to the Deep Stream, Pukaki Downs, and Lake Ohau fires is also concerning. I think the primary reasons regarding the consequences of these wildfires are not climate changes related but more land management related. The area involved in the Deep Stream was tussock grasslands retired from grazing due to the land tenure review. Before being placed under the Department of Conservation management, this land had been managed by lease holding high country farmers who regularly used control burns to keep fuel loading down to allow grazing.
The Pukaki Downs and Lake Ohau fires involved large areas of wilding pine. As Nick Ledgard reported in the November 2020 NZ Tree Grower Farm magazine article, “In the 1980s, apart from some stands close to the lakeshore, wilding trees were not very apparent to anyone other than those deliberately looking for them such as myself. But by the mid-1990s, major battles against wilding spread were starting to be waged.”
FENZ has made no reference to changes in the land cover over the past forty years with the lands associated with Deep Stream, Pukaki Downs, and the Lake Ōhau fires. Had regular burning by DOC continued on the retired tussock grasslands and the wilding pine areas more actively managed by reducing the sizes of wilding pine spread, the occurrence of the three wildfires would likely not have occurred.
If the 2021-22 FENZ campaign focus is left unchallenged, the impacts on the forestry profession/industry could include the following;
1. The public will attribute the increase in planted exotic forested lands to causing an increased fire risk in the forest and rural landscape.
2. The recent loss in the area burnt from wildfires is more related to a land management issue than climate change.
3. Recent research does not support the FENZ statements regarding hotter and drier areas creating conditions that increase the frequency and severity of wildfire events.
4. There is no evidence that the New Zealand fire seasons are getting longer.
5. Forest owners could see an increase in forest insurance premiums if the insurers believe there is an increased risk of unwanted wildfires occurring within plantations based on the FENZ information presented in the 2021-22 public fire prevention campaign.
The question for the NZIF is, as the professional body for foresters, should the NZIF make a public statement on the concerns raised above. If not, who is the entity which will provide a forestry perspective on the concerns raised above?
I look forward to your comments on the above.
Kind regards
Murray Dudfield
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Have your say!
Have something to say? comments? or just want to exchange idea's, then send an email to admin@nzif.org.nz
FORESTRY EVENTS
VOTING IS NOW OPEN FOR THE FOREST GROWER LEVY TRUST BOARD
To Vote or for information on voting go to: https://surveys.researchnz.com/mrIWeb/mrIWeb.dll?I.Project=FGLTVOT2021
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Your invitation to a NZDFI Marlborough Field Day, November 10th
Developing a sustainable hardwood industry in Marlborough
Field day, November 10th 2021, Blenheim
9.00am – 3.30pm
The NZDFI invites you to a field day: ‘Developing a Sustainable Hardwood Industry in Marlborough’ on Wednesday 10th November 2021.
Join us for a series of site visits to see plantings of durable eucalypts of different species and ages; also how trees can be converted into posts and utilised in vineyards. We have guest speakers, and there will be plenty of opportunities for discussion.
The field day is by registration only. There is a registration fee of $20 inc GST to go toward organisational costs.
The event aims to raise awareness of the NZDFI’s vision of developing a sustainable multi-regional hardwood industry based on durable eucalypts. NZDFI have identified the potential for 60,000 hectares of durable eucalypts to be planted in twelve regional wood supply catchments (5,000 hectares per catchment) based on future processing sites, between now and 2050.
Come along and learn more about NZDFI’s research and development focus on tree breeding to improve growth, form and wood properties. Also site/species matching, site productivity modelling, and research into the potential for producing posts and veneers by the University of Canterbury School of Forestry. Work by Scion into the technical and economic potential for developing regional industries based on durable hardwoods will also be covered.
Marlborough is the home of the NZDFI and has always been a priority region for the Initiative. The NZDFI was established here in 2008 in response to a market opportunity for sustainably grown, naturally durable hardwood posts as an alternative to CCA-treated posts in vineyards.
NZDFI’s numerous trials in different environments in Marlborough and throughout the north and east of New Zealand indicate that durable eucalypts offer farmers and existing forest owners an option to diversify their land-use and forestry.
This year the first generation of NZDFI’s improved ‘XyloGene’ planting stock has been established. The NZDFI wants to work with landowners and people engaged in land management in its priority regions to raise awareness of its vision and the opportunity for planting regional wood supply catchments.
For more information on the NZDFI’s vision for regional wood supply catchments, and an example of what a wood supply catchment in Marlborough could look like, visit our website.
Transport and social distancing
We propose travel by car to the various field sites and will adhere to the appropriate Covid-19 Alert Level social distancing rules on the day. Travel distances are short as we will stay close to Blenheim.
We will provide an update nearer the time about where we will convene and how we will travel: we hope to car-pool if this option is available to us.
Please bring your own lunch and refreshments.
We look forward to seeing you on November 10th.
Paul Millen
Project Manager, NZDFI
