18th December 2023 Newsletter

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

Dear Members

As the year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the journey we've had together. It's been a year of challenges, change, and a relentless commitment from our community. First and foremost, I extend my warmest wishes for a merry Christmas and a rejuvenating start to the New Year. May this festive season bring you joy and relaxation after what has undeniably been an 'interesting' year for us all. Here in Hawkes Bay, we're eagerly anticipating some sunshine and respite from the trials of silt, slash, and rain which have been constant.

Our recent Council meeting concluded with the finalisation of the draft budget. We have projects lined up to enhance the benefits for our members, with funding to be sourced from reserves. However, like many, we grapple with rising operational costs which are funded primarily by member fees and sponsorship.

Post-budget discussions I challenged the NZIF Council to recognise the sustainability of our council's management which is at stake. The increasing demands on us, from professional commitments to industry advocacy and community engagement, have outgrown the scope of volunteer efforts. Past Presidents have admirably shouldered this responsibility, yet the evolving landscape now demands more time and resources than spare moments can provide. Personally, over the last seven months I have been dedicating an average of 38 hours a week which underscores this need for change.

While my decision regarding standing for re-election remains pending, if I do, it will mark my final term. Hence, we face the urgent need to reimagine how we govern and manage NZIF. This entails exploring avenues to secure sustainable funding for management / administrative support - a challenge which probably demands an additional income of approximately $150k annually, equating to an extra $170 per member or enticing around 400 new members (potentially from the RFA database).

This discussion isn't new, but the time to act decisively is now. Your input, ideas, and suggestions are invaluable as we navigate this pivotal juncture. If you're willing to share your thoughts for publication in the newsletter, let's start a conversation to chart our course forward together.

On other matters, I have been privileged to be able to meet with the new Minister twice. Whilst he is still getting his feet under the desk, he is determined to push ahead with the policies they announced during the election process. We note the National / NZ First collation agreement agreed to stop the review of the ETS, but we still have a number of questions for the Minster (which we have sent in writing) including limits of new planting, reversal of the log traders and registered forest advisors, native afforestation funding, pest control and ETS fees review.

In regards to the latter and the JR process, we received the initial response from Crown Law. Not unexpectedly they state they believe the fees are just and fair. We now proceed to setting dates for the case to be heard and seeking some clarification from Crown Law on some of the points they have raised. This is a long process with the current timetable something like:

1. We will provide the Crown with all requests for specific documents by 31 January. 
2. The Crown will provide the documents sought by 28 February. 
3. We will file all of our fact evidence by 24 April. 
4. The Crown will file all of its fact evidence by 22 May. 
5. We will file any fact evidence in reply by 5 June. 
6. We will file any expert evidence by 3 July. 
7. The Crown will file any expert evidence by 7 August. 
8. The matter will be set down for a hearing on the first available date after 9 September.

However, the Court will ultimately decide the timetable.

In the meantime, we aim to lobby Government and continue to take other actions to ensure these unfair and unjust fees are reviewed.

Next year we are looking to move this newsletter to Wednesday delivery, we will start again late in January, so keep an eye out for it in your mailbox. I would love to see more members' comments and involvement in the newsletter next year, and encourage those of you involved in hiring to advertise your roles in this newsletter.

As the year draws to a close, I wish you a Merry Christmas, urge you to unwind, stay safe, and return in 2024 ready to embark on this collective journey anew.

Thank you for your continued support.

James

---------------------------------

James Treadwell (FNZIF, MInstD)
President
NZIF Registered Forester

KIWI AVERSION TRAINING SCHEME (KAT)

There has been an amazing response to the email sent out last week, but in case you missed it here is the information.

Call for assistance

This is a programme where dog owners bring their dogs to be trained to avoid Kiwi. This involves walking your dog through a short course in which we have placed various pieces of kiwi scented items. This may include litter from boxes used to move kiwi in, kiwi feathers, kiwi scat, basically anything that carries the scent of kiwi, which is a very interesting smell to dogs. The dog is wearing an E collar and if they show any interest in the kiwi scent they are given a correction via the e collar to discourage them. This is a hugely important programme for us as dogs one of the biggest threats to our kiwi populations. As I mentioned the smell of kiwi is very hard to resist to dogs and because of the fact that kiwi have no real protection through their chest area even just a nudge from a curious dog can be lethal.

At this time we are struggling to find areas to hold these KAT training sessions and I was wondering if your members would be able to assist us?  The main areas where we need sites currently are within an easy drive of Hamilton, Te Hiku/Far North, and possibly something close to Auckland. Ideally each trainer would have at least 3-5 sites in an area that they can use, so that they can mix it up and the dog associates the training with the kiwi, not with the site. Most trainers struggle to find enough sites,  most of them would appreciate another option or two in their arsenal.

A good KAT training venue would require,

• 2WD Vehicle access and room to park 6 or so vehicles at a time.
• An area to set up the course which isn’t an open paddock. A track through some bush is ideal but an area with some trees and bushes is fine also. We don’t want the dogs to be able to see the kiwi scented props but rather sniff them out.
• A separate area where those that are waiting to participate can walk and toilet their dogs. It goes without saying all deposits will be picked up by the owners.

I would really appreciate your help on this as it is an important weapon in our arsenal to help us Save the Kiwi.

Ngā mihi maioha

Craig Balsom
SAVE THE KIWI
027 202 6799
craig@savethekiwi.nz
www.savethekiwi.nz

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)

We are delighted to announce that the Institute’s initiative to improve its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program to members has kicked off with three webinars in October, November and December 2023.

• National Environmental Standards – Commercial Forestry 2023 
• Undertaking Continuous Professional Development
• NZ Fire Danger Rating System

All of the above free webinars were so well-received that we decided to open the NZ Fire Danger webinar to non-members, allowing a broader audience to benefit from the valuable insights shared.

It was encouraging to see attendees from NZIF members taking advantage of the CPD opportunity provided by these three webinars with 236 joining the live sessions.  Since then, the three recorded webinars have had over 264 views.

As we look forward to 2024, NZIF is committed to bringing you an array of interesting and relevant topics to support your professional development and meet your CPD requirements. Stay tuned for an exciting line-up of events and opportunities to enhance your knowledge and skills.

If you missed any of our recent webinars, fear not! We've introduced a new NZIF shop where you can access the free webinars or purchase recordings of previous CPD sessions held during 2023. This ensures you can catch up on the content at your convenience and continue your professional development journey.

A small fee will be charged next year to assist NZIF to cover costs and be able to bring in speakers with expertise on certain topics.  Payment will be made available by credit card for these events.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and we look forward to providing you with professional development in 2024.

FUTURE FORESTERS

Future Forester's Southern North Island End of year Meet - December 2023

This end-of-year event went well and all the participants had a great time testing their skills.

EVENTS

2023 ANZIF Conference

Thank you for participating in the 2023 ANZIF Conference: Embracing Our Natural Capital: The Science, Technology and Art of Managing Forests for All Values in October. 

Thanks for your patience, we are delighted to advise that a PDF of the PowerPoint presentations are now uploaded and available for your reference. We are still working on the video recordings of the presentations which will be available early next year. 

2023 ANZIF PowerPoint Presentations

REGISTRATION BOARD UPDATE

From the Registrar 18^th December 2023  

APPLICATION FOR REGISTERED MEMBER 

• Jasmine Keaney

SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION FOR REGISTERED MEMBER

The following Members are now Registered Members:

• Greg Adlam
• Trevor Mitchell
• Henri Bailleres
• Aaron Laurie
• Rien Visser
• Luis Apiolaza
• Duncan Harrison
• Hazel Honour
• Thomas Paul
• John Miller
• David Chandler
• Kelly Coghlan

NOTICE OF 5 YEAR REGISTRATION REVIEW  

The following Members are due for their 5-Year review of registration in 2023 and have not yet submitted their application: 

•  Dennis Neilson of Rotorua  

Any member of the NZIF has the right to object to an application. Any objection should be lodged with the Registrar registrar@nzif.org.nz within 20 working days of the first appearance (5 June 2023) of the notice in this newsletter, specifying the grounds for the objection.  

The following Members are now due for their 5-Year review of registration which must be completed no later than 31 May 2024  

• Bill Lu of Auckland  
• Ellanese Mytton of Tauranga 
• Andrew Clark of Rotorua 
• Martin Watson of Christchurch 
• Peter Handford of Paekakariki 
• Edwin Jansen of Christchurch 
• Patrick Milne of Christchurch 

Any member of the NZIF has the right to object to an application. Any objection should be lodged with the Registrar registrar@nzif.org.nz within 20 working days of the first appearance (14^th August 2023) of the notice in this newsletter, specifying the grounds for the objection.  

Peter Gorman, Registrar   
NZIF Registration Board 
registrar@nzif.org.nz  
+64 21 166 5938  

RECENT FORESTRY ARTICLES

• Gisborne forestry company fined $73,500 for 'poor practice and poor management'
• NZ approach to cutting emissions criticised by climate researchers
• Stopping the ETS review solves one carbon-forestry issue for the meantime, but also brings other carbon-forestry issues to the fore
• Cyclone-hit forest owners given three more years to avoid repaying carbon credits
• Rebuilding Hawke's Bay orchards and vineyards, one fencepost at a time
• Ngutukākā crowned Aotearoa's favourite native plant for 2023
• Vanuatu authorities suspend Chinese logging company's activities
• Save $2b a year by cutting carbon, Climate Change Commission tells government
• Explainer: How climate change is making the world sick
• Taranaki conservation group fear end to funding will slow momentum
• GDP: Economic activity falls 0.3% in September quarter
• Report says top of the south could be powered mostly by biomass