FORESTS MANAGEMENT

Grey River Argus, 10 May 1945, Page 6

FORESTS MANAGEMENT

NATURAL REGENERATION. (By E. L. Kehoe) To-day the trend of forestry policy in New Zealand is to reverse the old profligate style treatment of native forests which was, briefly, mill the forest as if it were a mine, apply then fire and axe to prepare for farms—well and good if the result aimed at was achieved, but much of the land on this side of the Alps at least, has become waste and abandoned land. Surely everybody who has faced the facts squarely must acknowledge this. The Forestry Department, has also in its charge considerable projects of exotic plantations, these projects must not be confused with natural forestry. In every country where this operates successfully the native trees of that particular' region are managed for present and for future cuttings. The excellent results that we have achieved in regard to certain quick growing exotic plantations do not as so manv seem to think, dispense with the need for close conservation, control, and allowance for regeneration of our natural forests, particularly in Westland. Some uninformed enthusiasts blandly acclaim their stout hearted belief that the sooner all our Westland native bush, on lowland is cut out or cleared out, and as they foolishly imagine, replaced bv a really comprehensive exotic tree planting policy, the better for all concerned. What a wild and woolly concept this is, to think that any system of planting by man could ever compare with the vast native rain forests growing for centuries in their ideal environment. Of course there is no reason in the world why private enterprise or Government should not plant foreign trees on suitable areas on the West Coast so long as they don’t use good farming land or fall virgin bush for the purpose. There is plenty of waste land unfortunately where exotic plantations can be experimented with. But to suggest that the mighty rain forests of Westland (probably the finest natural productions the world has ever known) can be replaced by man-made plantations of pinus radiata, on nature’s lavish scale, is merely silly, and that’s leaving aside all considerations of cost which are very high. The conservation of natural forests with a view to their management bv selective cutting with silivicultural and regenerative methods are true forestry activities—“ That can be applied to a good deal of Westland because over great areas'the Question of agricultural use of the land doos not. apply. Younger trees and regeneration are more abundant there than elsewhere because large compact areas of natural State forest exist sufficient in extent to make economically possible the process of conversion from the mining of a wild forest to the permanent management of a forest more or less normal in character” (F. E. Hutchinson M.For.S.).