Resource Accounting and the New Zealand Plantation Estate: Implications for the National Accounts

Authors: Hugh Bigsby, Donald L. Grebner
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 1996, Issue N.Z.J.For. 41(3) 1996, pp 27-33, Nov 1996
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

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Abstract: The paper provides a worked example of how forest resources can be incorporated into the national accounts by treating forests as 'materials in process*. The methodology is applied to New Zealand's existing plantation estate to simulate future contributions of forestry to economic growth. New Zealand has a past history of planting cycles, with the plantation forest estate more than doubling in size from 1960 to 1980, and the current age class distribution is very uneven. The paper shows that the current positive contribution of the plantation forest estate to economic growth has the potential to become negative in the future. Various scenarios are evaluated under which forestry continues its positive contributions.

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