PRESIDENTS COLUMN

As the new Government starts getting down to work it is a good time to ask what we can do to help make required changes. By ‘we’ I mean you as an individual, the organisation you work in and NZIF.

I believe we are best placed of any sector organisation to provide the incoming Government independent and professional advice on all forest matters including native, carbon and plantation, options for land use, waterway protection and any other area where trees play a role. To do this though I will need to call on your individual expertise. Most of you have far more knowledge than me in all areas of forestry and I would like to think if I ring you seeking help providing advice to government you would help. We must give them the best independent advice we can and use these next three years to enact change.

One area we need to work on as a country is land use. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see forests (right tree right place) running from the Mountains to the Sea along all our major rivers. To do this we would have to work with landowners; many of who have worked all their life removing trees from their properties. We all know we can use our land better, that just because you are a sheep farmer it does not mean the whole farm must be sheep. Likewise with forestry, we know in some of our forests we have productive land which should be use for other purposes. Let’s start a discussion.

We also need to ask ourselves the hard questions. I look at Tolaga Bay and the on going effects with fires still burning slash and ask myself how can we do better. Yes it was a massive amount of rain in a short period, but we can not use this as an excuse because we are going to get much much more of this as our climate changes. Frankly our industry has had a major and unwanted effect on the local community. We must make sure this does not happen again. Without blame we need to debate options to ensure this never happens again. If not us; who. We are the professional body; to me this means we have the resource and intelligence to have an open and constructive debate and to find a solution we can then work on within our organisations and with the community and the Government. I would love to see this debate started in the next newsletter.

What other areas should NZIF be debating and seeking solutions? Let’s help set the agenda for the next three years. I pledge I will promote our solutions to help improve forests and our sector; but to do so I need to know what the solutions are and we first need to debate them and reach a consensus. We are the professional body, you the members hold the knowledge. It is time to start standing up for what we know is right!

I look forward to hearing your views and ideas and debate. Remember debate is not about blame; it is exploring options to reach the best solution we can.

Have a safe week

James

MEMBERS VOICE

Have you say!

Ideas, thoughts or advice??  Send it through to admin@nzif.org.nz

INSTITUTE UPDATE

Online CPD

Were you unable to attend the CPD workshops on the 26th September?

We have had the presentations recorded and these are available to view online:

• Overview of ETS transformation - Emily Geck

• ETS 1989 Land eligibility - Phillip Lubeck

• Changes for the ETS - Steven Cox

• Code of Ethics - Andrew McEwen and Peter Casey

and the PowerPoint presentation of

• Forests (Log Trader and Forestry Advisors) Amendment Act 2020 - Antonia Reid

Please email Raewyn at admin@nzif.org.nz to let me know you want to view them.  I will send you an invoice for $80 and once you have paid I will allow you access to the Dropbox file.

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Christmas Office Hours

The NZIF office will be open until midday 23rd Dec 2020 and re open 11th January 2021.

The last Newsletter for 2020 will be on the 14th Dec and the first for 2021 will be on the 8th February. 

FORESTRY EVENTS

1 December 2020, Webinar

Kia ora

Greetings from Rotorua, New Zealand!

We cordially invite you to attend the 2020 Forest Ecosystem Services (FES) Forum online webinar on the 1st of December (Tue) New Zealand time. The theme for this year’s Forum is “Planted forests, climate change, water and people connections”. We are proud to announce an exciting set of speakers who will provide international, national and regional perspectives on forest ecosystem services and this year’s theme. All speakers have already confirmed and you may view the latest version of the programme.

Thank you for those who have already registered online. For those who would like to register, there is a registration fee of NZ$40. Please register by the 21st of November - REGISTER ONLINE NOW

We encourage you to register early as space is limited. We will provide the details about how to join the FES Forum webinar as we get closer to the date.

Feel free to pass this information on to your colleagues who may be interested in attending the forum.

Further information is available on the Forum website.

For enquiries regarding the forum programme, contact richard.yao@scionresearch.com. 

For enquiries about registration, contact alison.wilson@scionresearch.com