Large Expansion For Forestry

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31919, 21 February 1969, Page 20

Large Expansion For Forestry

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, February 20. Plans for significant expansion of New Zealand’s forests and forest-based industries were laid during the three-day Forestry Development Conference which ended in Wellington today.

This morning the conference confidently adopted targets for production and exports which were considerably higher than those set for the sector by the targets committee of the National Development Conference last October.

The whole tone of the conference was one of optimism. Reports prepared during the last 12 months by the conference’s working parties showed that potential exports of timber and forest products were limited only by the amount of wood available.

The conference approved■ plans to plant thousands of acres of new forest each year to provide this raw material. One of the few notes of caution was sounded on the lack of research being undertaken on forestry and forest products. In his final address to the conference this morning. the chairman, the Minister of Forests (Mr Maclntyre) i chided industry, particularly.! on its lack of research and suggested that forest industries levy themselves to pro-i vide additional funds for research. The conference was also warned that forestry could not lay claim to more than its fair share of the nation’s economic resources.

Mr Maclntyre said that one of the most important results of the three days was the proposal to seek the establishment of a Forestry Development Council to offer advice on forestry matters at ministerial level.

Mr Maclntyre said the council would form the basis for the future planning of the forestry sector of the economy.

The council’s recommended terms of reference are to advise the Minister on means by which to achieve the most efficient national development of production forestry and forest-products industries as a whole for the supply of home and export markets, and also to advise on the whole field of uses of forests. Today the conference

adopted export targets of $72.5m a year by 1973 and $96.2m by 1979. By comparison, exports of forest products last year were $51.2m. These export targets are a substantial increase on those set in the report of the targets committee of the National Development Conference in August of s6om by 1973 and sBsm by 1979. To provide exports on this scale it approved recommended annual forest planting rates of 52,000 acres of new forest a year. In addition it approved a crash programme of an additional 5000 acres a year of short rotation radiata pine. The conference. adopted average annual growth rate targets of 6.7 per cent of export volumes and 4.1 per cent of volume production.