NZDFI Vision
Our vision is for New Zealand to become a world leader in the breeding and sustainable forest management of naturally durable eucalypts that produce high quality hardwood.
Members want this project to provide the foundation for New Zealand to become a world leader in growing eco certified naturally durable hardwood forests.
This initiative is timely - new research and investment is needed to diversify the forestry sector. Investing in growing durable forests in NZ drylands offers an alternative land use that will improve the sustainability of NZ’s wine industry by growing naturally durable posts. These
new forests will sequester carbon and assist in mitigating climate change.
In the long term, this initiative’s vision is to have New Zealand durable eucalypt forests established that can supply high quality hardwood to replace the domestic trade in tropical hardwoods, and that this timber become a valuable export, traded internationally for high prices due
to its desirable wood properties and market scarcity.
New Zealand forest growers have the opportunity to develop fully eco-certified eucalypt plantations to produce high value hardwood for our domestic market, the Australian market, and many other international timber markets currently buying tropical and Australian hardwoods.
Durable eucalypt forests can offer other benefits beyond wood production.
One of the predicted impacts of climate change is an increase in number and severity of droughts. New Zealand’s drylands are in the eastern regions, from Gisborne to Otago. Landowners in these drylands (600-800 mm annual rainfall) face the prospect of increasingly droughty conditions
and need new, sustainable land use options to complement pastoral farming and to prevent erosion. Eucalypts are renown for their adaptability to droughty and eroding landscapes.
In addition, plantation eucalypts with high wood densities and fast growth rates will sequester carbon more rapidly than radiata pine, while their high calorific values mean that forest/wood residues have value for co-generation or biofuel.
Therefore, the NZDFI is committed to working with farm foresters, forest growers, industry groups and local government to promote the option of growing durable eucalypts, especially in NZ drylands to provide income diversification and to mitigate climate change.
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