THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Saturday, November 16, 1946. NEW ZEALAND’S FORESTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26311, 16 November 1946, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Saturday, November 16, 1946. NEW ZEALAND’S FORESTS

The intimation by Mr Nash that the Government would enter the newsprint industry, and set up a £2,000,000 plant to assist the full utilisation of the Dominion’s forest resources, is added evidence of the Government’s intention to pursue intensely its plans for what is described in the State Forest Service’s report as “ transferring the emphasis on timber production from the indigenous to the exotic forests.” There are, undoubtedly, many thousands of acres in parts of New Zealand where the planting of exotic forests is both useful and profitable. There are many exotics which are quick to mature and provide an abundance of cheap, inferior timbers that nevertheless have many uses and assist to conserve the diminishing suppfies of higher quality woods required for more permanent purposes. New Zealand’s programme of exotic afforestation, both in dimensions and organisation, has been pushed ahead rapidly, and the fact that exotic softwood production is now measured in millions of hoard feet a year is indicative that the immediate problem was tackled with energy and foresight. Immediate, however, is a relative term in the science of silviculture. It may mean twenty, fifty, or even a hundred years, while long term planning involves (or should involve in any enlightened community) the span of the everlasting centuries, and demands a vision that takes no count of human lifetimes. It is the part that our native forests are destined to play in this long-term planning that is at present creating a great deal of concern in the minds of many people who feel that the State Forest Service is concentrating overmuch on the establishment of exotic forests, to the neglect of the more .valuable indigenous trees. The exigencies of war demanded fresh inroads on our rapidly disappearing reserves of kauri, totara, rimu and other fine timbers, and it is widely felt that the regeneration of these native forests is receiving inadequate attention. It must be admitted that the State Forest Service is usually in the unenviable position of having to produce results for Ministers careless of what might occur after their own little role on the political stage is played, and this attitude was never more evident than it is to-day.' It is ail the more necessary, therefore, that public opinion should be educated to an appreciation of what must be done to ensure that our children, and their children’s children after them, shall have trees most suitable for their requirements. Exotic timbers of the insignis. pine variety have a limited usefulness, and in spite of the many precautions recommended for their preservation, have a high rate of deterioration. Before many years have passed the nation will have to meet the bill for the present emergency that has necessitated the employment of such timbers for structural purposes. Exotics, moreover, are extremely susceptible to destruction by fire, as recent experiences in the North Island have shown, while they are a poor investment in a long-range policy of soil conservation. In other lands the principle of rotational cuts at intervals of one or two hundred years or more is accepted, and planting and regenerative measures are. being taken to ensure continuous supplies of high grade timbers. It is high time that Governments in New Zealand acknowledged the fact that our native timbers are something more . than scenic attractions, and that their value cannot be measured in terms of cash profits and quick turnovers.