Indigenous biodiversity and land use - what do exotic plantation forests contribute?

Authors: C. Maunder, W. Shaw, R. Pierce
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2004, Issue N.Z.J.For. 49(4) 2005, pp 20-26, Jan 2005
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

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Abstract: Major decisions on large scale land use appear to be being made with little consideration of the relative contributions to indigenous biodiversity made by activities such as exotic plantation forestry and pastoral farming. Both foresters and farmers would undoubtedly argue that both land uses have positive values for indigenous biodiversity. It is not a simple picture for plantation forests, with patchy information, regional differences, and significant information deficiencies. It is nevertheless clear that plantations do provide habitats for a diverse array of indigenous plants and fauna, including rare species such as kiwi, bats, and falcon. The latter has a major stronghold in Central North Island plantations and forest managers have developed systems to accommodate falcon on an ongoing basis. Biodiversity values of plantations are increasingly recognised by forest managers and deserve wider recognition and further investigation to address information deficiencies.

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