Call for ban on export of woodchip

Press, 22 November 1989, Page 5

Call for ban on export of woodchip

A group of South Island furniture-makers has called for a ban on the felling of native trees for woodchip export. A ban was needed to halt the wasteful destruction of native forests, said the co-ordinator of Southern Style Inc., Mr Dag Guest, in a submission to the Government on the proposed indigenous forest policy. Southern Style is a group of 24 independent South Island furnituremakers who rely on a small quantity of native timber for producing high-quality furniture. Selective milling of native forest should be allowed to continue to provide native timber for high-quality uses such as furniture manufacture, said Mr Guest.

Southern Style wants New Zealand to keep and expand its native forests so the export of their products can increase, but also to offset the loss of rainforests internationally.

The Canterbury spokesman for the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, Mr Mike Harding, welcomed Southern Style’s statement.

“It is the wanton destruction of native forest that concerns us,” he said. “But we fully support the small-scale use of native timber for products such as furniture. These industries will employ more people and sustain their jobs for longer than any woodchipping operation.” Mr Harding said the Ministry for the Environment had received about 3000 written submissions on the indigenous forests policy document, and a high percentage of these supported a woodchip export ban.