Forestry petition hearing begins

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 3

Forestry petition hearing begins

Wellington reporter The 341,160 signatures contained in the Maruia Declaration, seeking greater protection for New Zealand’s native forests, yesterday went before the Parlias mentary Select Committee on lands and agriculture. The petition, the biggest mounted in New Zealand, was presented to Parliament last July by the Government member for Hamilton East, (Dr I. J. Shearer). The declaration, and accompanying submissions, were put to the select committee by the Native Forests Action Council. The hearing is expected to take at least two days, to hear 28 submissions from interested parties.

The committee, chaired by Mr L. C. Schultz (Nat., Coromandel) will hear the submissions in public but will deliberate in private before making a recommendation to Parliament. The Maruia Declaration seeks six main steps from Parliament:— (1) Protection in law for native forests. (2) An end to the burning of indigenous forests and wildlife. (3) Phasing out of logging of virgin forests by the end of the year, with the exception of Westland. (4) The creation of a new nature conservancy to protect publicly-owned native forests. (5) Encouragement of exotic and native forests on unused land, to ease commercial pressures on existing forests. (6) A more conservative ap= proach to consumption of products, such as

newsprint and packaging, which make heavy demands on natural resources. Fundamental disagreements between those presenting the declaration and those mainly responsible for administering the forests are apparent. The need to protect virgin native forests from exploitation is seen as the area of greatest urgency, but the area where the Government’s policy seems least adequate. After 1978 New Zealand’s needs for wood could be supplied from plantations outside native forests, said the declaration. “Yet indigenous sawmills and chip-mills contributing only 9 per cent of our total wood production are still being allowed to devastate more than 10,000 acres of beautiful virgin forests every year. “This must be stopped. Such forests are unique and irreplaceable. And those we can save now are all we shall ever have.” However, the DirectorGeneral of Forests (Mr M. J. Conway) said it would not be practicable to phase out the of virgin forests The cessation of logging on freehold leasehold and Maori land required new legislation, which would doubtless be contested, while the cessation of logging in State forests would require mutual agreement with contract parties to terminate cutting, plus payment of compensation. However, while a precipitate end to logging of virgin forests was likely to be "completely impracticable,” the question of how

the remaining resource should be managed and the levels of timber cut determined was an important one, he said. It was not correct to say that New Zealand’s timber needs could be supplied from plantations, but there was a need to further reduce the level of cut of indigenous forest. The petition’s co-ordinator (Ms Ann Wheeler), who read the submissions to the committee, said that the warmth of public response had made the organisers determined to make the petition the biggest collected in New Zealand. "People in general seem to have been really pleased that we are making this effort on behalf of the forests,” she said. “Many older people have commented to us that this effort gives them hope for the future.” The Action Council’s research director (Mr Guy Salmon) told the committee that unless national parks and reserves included more lowland forests, whole “lifesystems” such as kahikatea forests would never be seen again in their natural state. Milling was going ahead faster than native forests could regenerate, he said, and Government pricing policies had perpetuated the wasteful misuse of native timbers. He said that almost 80 per cent of all high-quality dressing-grade native timber used in New Zealand houses was covered or painted over. New Zealand’s law on forestry reflected an outmoded attitude, said Mr Salmon. Public opinion had changed from that of the pioneering past.